literature

Origami Stars (C)

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SurrealCachinnation's avatar
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Literature Text

I've kept every one of the origami stars you made in an empty glass Coke bottle, filling it to the brim over seven months of brief letters elegantly scribbled on delicate strips.  My tiny paper galaxy sits between the empty velvet-lined box and the shattered picture frame, on top of my heavily-used thesaurus (you know how difficult it was to find words at times).

The weatherman called for rain the day we met.  You were static and sour limes and I almost couldn't swallow the lies you were spewing, but when you called me beautiful, I smelled cherries.  And no, no, no, I'm not looking for love or even romance from you.  I just want to feel human.

Yet you taunt me, pheromone tendrils yanking
on my conscience; those slips of paper were
love letters, but were they meant for me?

There's a star overhead
and it looks
like the twinkle in your eye
when you're nervous,
so be honest,
darling--
the letters I found
stuffed in a sock
at the back of your drawer
weren't written for me.


"I bet you say these things to all the girls," I said to you the first time you presented me with one of your small tokens of affection.  And I deliberately ignored the voice that suggested there was a grain of truth in those words.  I was intoxicated by your cologne, which to this day makes me think of our seaside picnics, and the dimples that appeared on your stubble-dotted cheeks whenever your smile was hiding a lie.

"Maybe," you murmured in response as my fingers traced the folded edges of the star, "but this is the first time I've ever meant it."  And there was a flutter, a knocking, a tidal wave breaking across my veins and all I could hear was your name echoing mine and when I looked at the sky, I didn't see Scorpio or Ursa Major or even the moon.  I saw the constellations our paths were meant to take before I bumped into you...and the ways they'd dissolved in the clouds.  I saw a road untraveled...and I longed to take it just to see where it took me.

What more was I, really,
than another link in the chain
(the one you used to keep me
bound to you, the one you yanked
whenever I tried to run
from those deceitful eyes)?

Yank it again,
darling,
I dare you.
Yank it again
and I'll show you what origami
really looks like.


I wanted to believe you,
that glimmer in your eye,
your soft, chiseled lips
and the rows of teeth
you lied through.  I don't
want romance, but
my vellum butterflies
(still) try
to convince me otherwise.

I've kept every one of the origami stars you made in an empty glass Coke bottle, and sometimes, I take one out and write my wishes on the paper with black pen, but I can't bring myself to throw the star away and really, wishes on paper are no better than blowing out the candles in an empty room.  I want romance, and laughter, and a thousand other things I spent my childhood envying...but you have sandpaper fingertips and a strong grip on the gun, and if you pull that trigger, I'm afraid I'll blink the dust out of my eyes and realize you ran the other way a long time ago.  Don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me...but I'm not so sure I want you to love me back.  I'm not so sure I could handle that.
Another collab with the incredible :icontwilightpoetess: !

Her stanzas/paragraphs are italicized, and she chose the title.

Please go show her submission--and her entire gallery!--some love. :heart:

It's been such a joy working on this piece with you. :la:

[link]
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Christianonfire7's avatar
Another excellent piece. Loved the way you two flowed off of each other. :)