2020 by May Sim

I wish I could press pause.

Just for a moment.

Slow down the clock until

the only thing pounding is

the beat of my heart.

It’s so loud in my ears

I wonder if you can hear it.

Thud thud.

 

Children amass amongst the streets,

running through the playground of rubble

on a hunt for treasure

yet unaware of the real surprise

waiting buried below.

Thud thud.

 

A teenage girl’s voice

is plucked from her

like a petal off a daisy flower.

For your own safety, ma’am,

the policeman says.

Thud thud.

 

The man across the street

rakes the debri surrounding his garden

into a pile so high

it resembles a tower of confetti.

It looks like a graveyard of leaves.

Thud thud.

 

Time presses her forehead to yours

with a deeply sorrowful look,

like an empty colouring book.

Thud.

 

May has had one poem published recently in a feminist zine, F*EMSZINE, and is currently in the process of another being published with a non-binary and gender diverse online journal, EnbyLife. I am a third-year, queer literature student at a university outside of Melbourne, Australia and am planning on enrolling into an Honours degree once I complete my Bachelor mid-year 2020.