She never liked crowded places

(English Poetry by Fiona Mae Ilano)

It creeped her out, made her feel choked- out of breath, out of place. The faces she see, she dare not remember. The intricacies, the expressions on their wrinkly foreheads, scrunched up and soggy.

Unlike the moonlit river she once saw, in a movie. About the tale of the once wealthy, young man. Who never liked crowded places. Who would grimace and frown and disapprove. Of the stares of others, provoking. He wanted no company, no relief, only solitude.

Like the raven on the grassy field, preying upon nuts and crackers and mice- Alone.

There’s the glass of wine and cylinder. It never liked crowded places. Forever waiting, forever hoping. For a hand to graze, for an arm to hold. The glassy exterior of the once-been thief of hearts. Of souls.

The little boy down the street, who shudders and stutters. And hearts beat fast, hands race, eyes dilate. His mom would say, “calm down”. To which he would sweat once more. Never did he like trains. Or the road.

He, like she, never like crowded places. Lines she avoided. The slightest tinge of bodies pressing against each other. On the streets, on the bay. On a clear, cloudy day. Could never suffice. One would think she would never, lay down with a stranger. To which she could barely breathe. At a place where she used to frequent.

She never liked crowded places. The bed is crowded, she would say. I have nowhere else to go, she would say. The sheets are white and tangled. At her feet, at her chin. The fresh kiss of the wind. With this stranger, to which she thinks. More of a candle-flickering. You never see the ghosts, only closeness. The tight, warm clasp of his hand on yours. The whole time. She almost bolted. Ran away, from the abyss, the dark, dank mist. From the bed without a face.

She never liked crowded places, for where the moon shone. Some tiny, shimmering shard of something. Of hope, of peace, of love. It all fit there-tightly, closely. The stranger, to which she said goodbye.

To which she said hello.