The woods beside the school used to be our kingdom
the cedar needles were crowns, the
clearings our conquered cities
the raised storm drain our stage
we were marbles
swirl of colors on the inside
covered by translucent glass
wide-eyed, supposedly delicate but truly invincible
you could see right through us
but one day
the forest was chopped down
we disappeared
rolling
into the tunnels under the storm drain
it was dark
on we rolled
we couldn’t control the downward motion
our sheer, smooth glass kept us tumbling down
into the depths of the sewage
when I emerged
the rest of the marbles were gone
maybe they were still lost in the tunnel
their glass hadn’t hardened, and they were
still rolling
maybe they had come out the other drains
they’d taken a wrong turn
or maybe the right turn
maybe they’d cracked and broken while inside
sometimes you’re the only one who can
piece yourself back together
i’m not a marble anymore
my glass has turned to rock
supposedly invincible but truly delicate
you can’t see through me, but neither can I
sometimes
but I think my swirl of colors is still inside
no one can stay a marble forever
no one can live forever
rocks aren’t round and
wide-eyed like marbles
but they each hold different shapes
and they fit together
in puzzles
there are more marbles
there are more rocks
we all find each other
eventually
we keep breaking
we harden our shells
even outside of the tunnel and apart
we’re pulled by constant downward motion
because the nature of a marble
rock or glass
is to keep rolling.