by Catherine O’Brien
The bully arrives at his new school wearing a face that was defeated by a memory and unironed cargo pants. It is sometimes convenient to take the role of the misanthrope and this is all his audience sees. He’s sad but not all bad and so it’s pitiful that he commands his eyes not to precipitate while in public view. He talks to himself when his mind back answers. He leaves his Biology class with a newly-assigned lab partner, a cascade of papers and a burgeoning crush. He licks the flavour of new possibility from her lips while they pretend to work out the tensile strength of a strand of stolen hair.
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Catherine O’Brien is an Irish writer of poems, flash fiction and short stories. You can find out more about her and her work on X @abairrud2021.
