Strange Experience
Sitting, bowed diffidently,
in the seat
of an idling car.
Leaning against the shadowed wall,
looking out at the brazen clamor
of a dance.
Imprisoned, motionless,
seized by the onyx manacles
of worry.
A ceaselessly unfurling
newsreel of
‘What If’s
The chill insidious
venom of
black anxiety suffuses
your mind
But then,
in its recesses,
something stirs.
Small, timorous, but
blossoming
onward
You extend a quavering hand
to the handle of the car door.
Detach yourself from the
cold plaster of the
Dance Hall wall
And step into the
effulgence
of new experience
Will Hodgkinson is 16 and in the 10th grade at Waldorf High School in Massachusetts. His poetry has been published in Off the Coast, Maine’s international poetry journal, Highlights magazine, and the Arlington Advocate. His interview with Noam Chomsky was published recently in the University of Massachusetts Breakwater Review. His interests include politics and writing.