poem by Gabby Clifford, ’16

Come see me
Because so easily I let myself
Be seen by those around me

And hardly seen
By those who secretly lie beside me

The crisp air and my nonchalant face
Hide my despair as I try to grasp the chair
I clumsily sit on and turn my head to the screen
And what I mean, this time, is to be seen

The earth shattering nothingness
Of the crush sitting beside you in class
Screeching his chair closer to you
He laughs at your awkward jokes
But will never know
How hard you want to be known
And seen
By him
And kissed and liked
By him

For now I float
And I wrote the letter
‘I like you’
On my keyboard
Just bored
And wanting
Not desperately
Not pathetically
To see a beautiful blue message saying
I like you
Too