One Tree Hill

Doesn’t it stink British that my friend said
It’s OK if we die because we know how

we feel about each other – even if one of us
is dead, at least the other won’t be

sleepless over unsaid love. I agreed
and by doing so confirmed that we did

indeed know how we felt. This took place
in another time. Now we’re in a high school

teen drama and I am a shaken bottle sending
its lid to the sky. A park bench is framed

with blossoms. Magic hankies balloon out
of our mouths – sorry, thank you, sorry,

thank you. Three stretched episodes of missing
each other’s calls but at last we’re giving

our viewers what they want. The script says
they hug with significance and now I’m worried.

If only I could hear the soundtrack. Anyone
in this business knows that nothing good comes

after an embrace like that. The sky looks
unsure of itself and were it up to me,

we would walk the same way home, but I
don’t have that kind of power on these sets.

Ellen Renton