there were three kids once | Jenna Zaidan

the first was the boy
the heir
he escaped his pain through the bottom of a bottle
always slamming the shot glass down too hard
fragments going everywhere
with a wit as sharp as the edges
but don’t let anyone ever tell you he wasn’t a genius
pull the string of his curiosity and watch him go
he could tell you anything you wanted to know
anything except i’m sorry

the middle was a wounded bird
they kept her until it hurt too bad to not let her fly
and then they let her go
she was sharp heels and a calculating stare
terrifyingly beautiful
but when the air was warm
and the night quiet
she would hold you as she cried
she would do anything for you
except drive you to the store
behind the wheel her head was too loud
she couldn’t see the wall coming

the third was a highway light tunnel
filled with a type of magic no one could explain
she was wicked smart in the way a serial killer is
captivating and manipulative
yet consumed by a loneliness so potent you could smell it on her
she laughed as if she was performing but never checked to see who was watching
she loved the hardest and broke the deepest
maybe she deserved the empty home

when they were together they shone
the three brunette royals
dark hair dark eyes
trailing shadows like a kid trails his blanket
dangerous and oh so tempting
to touch them was to get burned
no one knows why they ran so hot
but the village theorized it was to survive the frigid home

there were three kids once
now it’s lucky when one shows up
the mystery of the others unsolved
but no one wishes to climb the hill and touch the house that raised them
for fear of becoming a myth too

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Behind the Writing

“We’ll all end up characters in someone else’s poem; I like to write them before anyone else can. This piece was inspired by a family I knew and my observations of them. I draw most of my inspiration from observing people and noticing their patterns. This piece in particular was written over the course of a few weeks as I frequently went back and added more little details I had found.”

Jenna Zaidan