setae maintenance
he calls, and all i hear on his tongue
are three syllables, low, sweet, and calm:
lo – li – ta.
i know he sees me as larva,
coquettish nymphet,
precluding butterfly wings to pin.
no need to clip what has not grown
out, like breasts or hips or sense,
but i listen on as the video call continues
because i clicked the button
saying i was over eighteen
when i was eleven, as what is one and one
to do? not wish to be understood
as an equal? but this is a child
who has avoided every sign and wound up
with some wound up humbert humbert,
humiliating when it dawns
that he clearly saw i was not adult content.
perhaps this was an incorrect comparison,
as dolores was not trying to flirt,
was not flitting her eyeball for
a tongue to sweep across it.
however, i think the older in both
scenarios were one to one in how wrong
they were, though the perspective
fails to make me look favorable.
Seth Paul is a second year majoring in secondary education at University Park. With stolen Pennsylvanian valor, Seth Paul lives in Pittsburgh when not on campus. He writes poetry and creative non-fiction, using movie references and obscure history learned from his quizbowl team to build unsettling and unfamiliar atmospheres in his writing.