insert themselves between
the married couples holding hands
in the West Village (they) step on cracks between slabs of concrete (they)
wedge wine between
sobering bouts of sobriety (they) sleep between
the right and left pillows on full-sized beds (they)
see the children’s noses peeking
out of their puffy coats with zippers
fanned out rendering baby tooth smiles in metal (they)
remember when (they) sat
on their mothers’ laps too (they) wonder
if (they) want to become laps to be sat on too (they)
marvel at how a conductor's
hole punches sound like trains
eating tracks (they)
wonder if their thoughts will ever be that seamless.
the (inbetweeners) have holes
in their right pockets where the seam splits (they)
try and determine scientifically
if the border between a white
tile and a black tile
is white or black
((They) fail.) (they) wonder why no one else
cares about the edges.
the (inbetweeners) are convinced
seven times a day for seven
seconds at a time that (they)
have thought a unique thought.
the (inbetweeners) remember
when every idea was a new one (they)
remember writing a poem in the third grade
called “Spring” and winning a prize (they)
wonder if (they) can win a prize anymore
for a poem called “Spring”
or if prizes are only awarded
for poems called “The (InBetweeners)”
because “Spring” poems are too simple to be worth anything.
Padmini Parthasarathy is a journalist based in New York, NY. She has been published in The Times of India, Huffington Post, Vitamin W, Tehelka THINKblog, Washington Square News, and on PolicyMic.com. She likes adventures, stories, and adventures that lead to stories.