Foreshadowing by Juliette Sebock

We laughed as we wandered the city 
And I told you about other mistakes—
Cheap wine, bottle caps, and a left-hand tan line—
While you got lost in a world of firsts 
And songs by my favourite bands. 

We stopped by the spirits, opposite the corner store, 
No Strongbow in sight.  
You asked how I know; 
And I told you, 
“Laughter”
(Just like this). 

Not so happily ever after, 
I went back to the cemetery,
Walked a while, catching my breath
After running from the ghosts and the knives and 
The blood-stained sheets.  
A flower caught my eye, 
Or, really, a weed, 
Contrasting against the green, 
Against the bright blue of shoes
Bought to forget the green-blue of her eyes,
Those eyes she got from you.  

I don’t make a wish, 
But that optimistic patience kept away ghosts of laughter
And spiked punch and too-intense lines,
Voices from another time.

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Juliette Sebock is the author of Mistakes Were Made and has work forthcoming in a variety of publications. She is the founding editor of Nightingale & Sparrow and runs a lifestyle blog, For the Sake of Good Taste. When she isn’t writing (and sometimes when she is), she can be found with a cup of coffee and her cat, Fitz.