A POEM BY GABRIELA MARIE MILTON AND A PHOTO BY NAOKI KIMURA

Gabriela Marie Milton

8 months ago

Good morning/good evening, my cherished followers:

Today: A POEM BY GABRIELA MARIE MILTON AND A PHOTO BY NAOKI KIMURA.

I hope you enjoy:

PHOTO

Naoki Kimura

POEM/SHORT PROSE

She perched at the corner of the old archway, her floral dress blooming against the steel, her eyes the green of rain-soaked moss.

“Hey, lady. Want me to read your future?”
“No, thank you.”
“Ever been sick?”
“No.”
“Ever had surgery?”
“No.”
“Broken bones?”
“No.”
“They’ve tied your health.”
“What?”
“Now, they can’t touch you.”
“Who are they?”

She laughed—a strange, yellow laughter, sweet and sour.

“Let me tell you your future.”
“No, thanks.”

I quickened my pace, heart thumping.

When I reached the center of the arch, I glanced back. She was gone—vanished like a forgotten dream.

My future flickered before my eyes:
a vision in black and white, sharp as shadows, silent as stone.

It rained that day.