Skip to content

Parallax Online

Online High School Literary Magazine

Menu
  • Prose
    • Fiction
    • Non-Fiction
  • Poetry
  • Dramatic Writing
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • IdyllwildArts.org
  • Undrawn Self Portrait
  • Piano Player Fingers
  • A Letter from Gloria
  • Mikrokosmos
  • Two Poems by Nathan Lee
  • Two Poems By Caroline Coleman
  • Welcome to the Galapagos!
  • Parallax Fiction and Poetry Scholarship Contest
  • (un)reality – Three poems by Allison Stein
  • The Lady Downstairs
  • A Conversation With Leah Sottile
  • Layers of Self
  • Fish Magic
  • Hymnody
  • Of This Skin
Menu

A Letter from Gloria

Posted on November 14, 2020 by Bella Koschalk

I can’t remember what I am doing here.

The flickering lights above me tell me they don’t either.

And the lady, whose eyes used to choke me with memories, is staring at the door,

mimicking the opening and closing of the past as she rocks back and forth.

I wonder if she hears the echo of footsteps

or the buzz of whispers stuck in my left ear.

Maybe not.

 

The door hasn’t opened in a long time

and the cold linoleum hallways swallow 

dust instead of tears now.

The shadows still come to shake my hand,

which is nice because the lady only stares.

 

The corners of the room are scorched from fires I don’t understand.

I find that peculiar because the saltwater has reached my ankles.

I kind of like the water. I can see my bones rocking back and forth,

and that’s how I know I’m still real.

 

But the lady in the window is crying so I yell for her light

but my yells turn into murmurs and the murmurs turn into shadows

that pulls me down into the water.

 

So I bang my fists on the window and so does she

and I guess she is strong because the mirror shattered.

The shards of my mistakes tickle my skin,

laughing blood,

as I wade in the water of my tears.

 

I still don’t remember why I am here

but I hope someone opens the door real soon.

Bless your heart,

Gloria

 

Laura Ospina is a sophomore at a boarding school in Massachusetts. In her writing, Laura likes to explore how her family and Colombian heritage have shaped her identity. Besides writing poetry, Laura enjoys reading and learning about constitutional law.

Visual Art By: Samantha Jui-Yun Su

What is Parallax?

Parallax is a premier high school student-edited literary magazine, featuring original fiction, non-fiction, poetry, plays and screenplays, as well as book reviews and author interviews. Edited by the Creative Writing Department at Idyllwild Arts Academy, the magazine accepts submissions from high school students worldwide. Read more.

Forthcoming

Interviews with Jane Wong and Eliot Triechel, and a wonderful new batch of stories and poems!

Read Past Issues

Past print issues can be accessed here:

Parallax 12 (2009)
Parallax 13 (2010)
Parallax 14 (2011)
Parallax other recent issues
© 2021 Parallax Online | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme