Things I Didn’t Know I Loved

Things I Didn’t Know I Loved

Emulating Nazim Hikmet

By: Josephina Garza

It’s 2020 April 3rd

I feel my skin crawl and my walls move in,

I’ve been playing chess for 9...10..11

Maybe more days to come

I never understood how to shut myself away

I need fresh air

            To feel it across my arms and face

I need laughing

            Children, mother, father, fiancé

I need family

            A break spent shut away

I need home

            A warmer bed, with blankets piled high

And yet here I sit

            Computer propped open

                        Cursor mocking me as I wait…

It can't really be that much longer

Can it?

The wait for kisses so rough

Laughs so full 

Ideas so complicated

            They fill this little room and

                        Slip out of open windows

Only for reality to set in…

I took for granted things grander than four walls

I need wings

            Something yummy other than sandwiches

I need movies

            Popcorn and dark rooms with strangers

I need animals

            A dog...maybe a cat...hell I want a ferret

I need a tattoo

            To scratch the itch at the back of my leg

                       

But again, I sit and wait it out

            Held captive by fear

                        Strangled by news

It can't really be that much longer

Right?

My roommate watches as I wrestle

My roommate laughs as I whine

I fight against the itch

            But would it hurt to

                        Open the door 

To step outside and take a deep breath

I feel my skin crawl and my walls move in,

I’ve been playing chess for 12...13...14

Maybe more days to come

It’s 2020 April 4^th now