Soft streams of light
tread across the dark floorboards,
cold, warm
and I kayak along them
gently paddling my way
towards, away
fluttering my fingers in the light
I trace figure eights in the air beside me
slide my chin in and around
a circle
The slight burn skims my lips
and my lungs expand in all directions,
balloons against a ribcage
I close my eyes,
an orange glow encompasses me
a cocoon
I love it here.
I love it here.
Sonia Chintha is an Indian American writer who lives in the Washington DC area. She blogs, writes poetry, and fiction. She is also an English teacher who believes that our experiences teach us more than any test. She is the founder and co-editor of Good Little Girls.
The first time I saw the words “ms. chintha is a bitch” inked on to walls, I was 29 years old. I had been teaching for a mere four years, but felt so veteran already because I had stopped crying when fights happened in or near my classroom among students. Up until my fourth year, I blamed myself for not creating a safe enough space for my students and that’s why they began fighting.
She scrunches up her face and bites her lip, as if the music is coming from deep inside her, Gallops in a figure eight around