by Lily Scheckner
Cracks in the sidewalk form a starry divide
Shadow (as in, a reflection in concrete)
Cosmology (or, study of universes)
Parallel with cosmetology, which is
A poor man’s comparison, I know
But you aren’t paid for
The catalog: doe eyes, string waist
A disjointed sphinx with legs
Stepping on dictionaries, spilling ink
You’re on a green juice path
For days, years
Attracting freckled pigeons
While someone gets out a camera
Mythology is learned, earned
Preserved in time
With Atlas muscles, lingerie, and
With expectations of glory
Weighed on
Moon dimes, tossed in the
Echoing fountain for the forefathers’
Silver scales, scale
Back your jukebox expectation to choose
Judgment
Be fed to the dogs or decide
To sheath your wings
Some are stone, yours are
Where the clavicles are
Using perfume to mask
The shame of flat-footed dancers
But we are
The ostriches, the matriarchs,
Buried in window shopping and
Avoiding the taboos
Like peeled bananas and
Unearthing the statue
Dusting you off
Starting over, an instant reinvention
In a cracked sidewalk reflection
For the gods and the men
And the stars
Lily Scheckner is a high school student and poetry & fiction writer residing in Silver Spring, Maryland. In her free time, she enjoys earl gray tea, vintage fashion, and listening to Sufjan Stevens. Lily was a finalist for the Montgomery County, MD Youth Poet Laureate and attended Interlochen Arts Camp, where she received a Fine Arts Award for Creative Writing.