A Girl Named October by Zakieh A. Mohammed

Author:Zakieh A. Mohammed
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2019-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Sometimes I would find October sitting on

a crackled, old bench with a pen in her hand

and a notebook in her lap.

She wrote words that were soft and peaceful,

and sometimes sharp and really too truthful.

I asked, “Why are you writing those words?”

She answered with hands outstretched

like a century-old oak that wanted to

sweep the stars out of the sky.

“I speak loudly when I say nothing at all.

You heard me, didn’t you?”

I did not know how to answer,

so I said nothing.

On a hot afternoon, I saw October running barefoot on the sandy shore

as she tried to catch the breath of the wind on the sticky day.

She stopped at a shell that captured the sun in its opal face.

Delicate ridges lived on the shell, and October rubbed them between

her fingers. She smiled and then put it back on the sandy beach.

I called out, “Why don’t you keep it?”

She looked up with cheerful eyes. “But I did, didn’t you?”

I did not know how to answer, so I said nothing.

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