after Iris in The Holiday

And I’m not even playing the best friend. I’m a background extra, a passerby across the street from a coffee shop window, a grey-clad office cog hidden from the nose down behind the boundaries of her cubicle. If snowfall is a confession, I’ve been holding in a blizzard of alone time, lights off, avoidance, if only. For god’s sake, if only I were more brave! If only I were snowflakes and starlight, self-portrait of a dining table center piece, a thing that doesn’t need fixing! It was a game all along, and I was playing the thimble when I should have been the race car. For god’s sake, tear loose the unopened letter! Burn the things that took me from me: selfish man, corporate conga, realists sucking the lore from my palms like fairy tales are poison, my fingers the wounds. For god’s sake, hold the embers carefully in both hands! Ignite them with the waxing sun, and see what birds fly back!

Prompts used (tags are the poets’ IG handles):

@imandq + @ml.mehcam + @laur_enough - “a burn held carefully in both hands” @rosepapercastles - “snowfall is a confession” @lorrainefaepoetry - “snowflakes and starlight” @maryoliversdrunkcousin - “‘You’re supposed to be the leading lady of your own life, for god’s sake!’ - The Holiday @elenaspoetry - “things that took me from me” @jasmine.s.higgins - “it was a game all along” @angelealowes - “an unopened letter” @loisofthehearth - “things that do not need fixing” @alexismromo - “the bird theory and other ways to test someone’s love for you”