Iowa Writes
AMELIA MARSHALL RAND for those of us who know
I wish at this moment I could be an omniscient figure. Where could I begin? Maybe at his eyes or maybe at her utter disbelief. Maybe I could attempt to describe both of their worlds. His continues to rotate with gravity intact while hers is thrown completely off its axis. She bites her fingernails and tastes the salt from her skin mix with the salt from her tears. He doesn't look at her. He avoids any feelings of guilt. He keeps talking. Words are spilling onto the floor between them. She doesn't know how to pick them up. She wants him to hold her hand, kiss her forehead, she wants him to love her again. It won't happen. They both know it. He offers an apology but his sincerity breaks her heart even more. He tells her he doesn't like to see her cry, that he feels like a jerk for causing her pain. She takes a deep breath and whispers that all she did was give him herself. All she did was hand her heart over to him with his promise to watch over it. He wants to give her heart back to her, but there is so much pain inside her body that it doesn't fit anymore. There isn't anywhere for it to go. She knows that if she gets up from that chair, walks across the grass, steps away from the curb, she knows she'll never see him again. How could that be possible? This is what she asks herself. He doesn't know what else to say. Nothing can fix her. She just has to exist for a while.
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About Iowa Writes
Since 2006, Iowa Writes has featured the work of Iowa-identified writers (whether they have Iowa roots or live here now) and work published by Iowa journals and publishers on The Daily Palette. Iowa Writes features poetry, fiction, or nonfiction twice a week on the Palette.
In November of 2008, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Iowa City, Iowa, the world's third City of Literature, making the community part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
Iowa City has joined Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia as UNESCO Cities of Literature.
Find out more about submitting by contacting iowa-writes@uiowa.edu
AMELIA MARSHALL RAND Amelia Marshall Rand was born in Arlington, Virginia, but grew up in Norman, Oklahoma. She attended high school in Iowa City. "My mom made sure I covered a lot of territory before I could call one place home," she says. Amelia is currently studying creative writing at Knox College. |