Stranger
I hope to leap, one day, out of the window,
land on a soft bed of grass, then
feeling like the moment a movie ends,
prance and stumble with my eyes healing,
feeling silly, switched, deliciously wild as I
plead for an ending like this. I want hope
to be my director, freedom my producer.
I want the landing of each morning I wake
to be softer. Want the jolt to feel like
the hug Mum gave on rainy school mornings.
Want to stop keeping count of the rigid days,
to lick up moments that once tasted like cake
and smelled like muddy boots, citrus cars, and fresh bread.
Want today to sound like the gossip of a stranger,
erupting school kids’ laughter, obnoxious mockery.
I fondly remember the strangers I never thought to recall.
The unpredictability of a commute and the buzzing
road, like a rollercoaster, under my seat.
I want to watch people from cafes drink sweet tea and
imagine who they could be.
I want looking to stop hurting, want to see something
fresh. Maybe it will be my remedy. Want the walls to bleed
with waxy oranges from the local market, with the drink that the
waiter once spilt on my lap. Want to end it with a “thank you”
I say anyway, eager to love a stranger.
Biography: Chloe Baker is a third-year student at the University of Reading studying English Literature and Creative Writing. She has published poetry in Voices Along The Road; an anthology created to fundraise for child refugees. Her favourite thing about poetry is its capability to nurture both its authors and readers. Her poems featured here explore various experiences that she has since found sweetness within.