"open book" by Ilana Drake

sometimes i think of you

& what it feels like

to be so far away

we used to read

on the bookstore floor,

escaping from

eating lunch

in the bathroom

to a kingdom

which we

could rule

& sometimes i think of you

& how we used to flip

through your favorite books,

the "choose your own adventure"

kind of books,

trying to change our endings

we used to run

across the schoolyard

in search of each other,

but maybe we are moving on

or shutting the book

but i want to believe,

i need to believe,

that it is just one chapter of many.

Ilana Drake (she/her) is a freshman at Vanderbilt University, and she is a student activist and writer. Her work has been published in Ms. Magazine, YR Media, and The 74 among others. She is also the recipient of multiple Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. She can be found on Twitter @IlanaDrake_ and her website is https://ilanadrake.wixsite.com/mysite/projects