"she” poem number 8

SHE: Poem 8 – “she doubts if i waited” (circa ’85)

i sat by the mall’s neon fountain, Walkman humming The Smiths,

mixtape cued for her arrival—

and she doubts if i waited.

i circled the pizza stall,

pepperoni grease on my thumb,

clock hands creeping

over the arcade— and

she doubts if i waited.

the quarter in my pocket buzzed, primed for her Pac-Man high score, food-court lights flickering in my eyes— and she doubts if i waited.

my boombox heart skipped

every chorus screaming her name,

but her shadow slipped past me—

and she doubts if i waited.

.