A new student is introduced to our class near the end of the school year. We locked eyes, introducing me to a new kind of heartbeat. When was it the first time I felt this way?
Summer Break
Poem written on June 13th, 2021
We met at the break of dawn
When was it the first time I felt this way?
Perhaps the classroom, quiet as white clouds
You drew your name on the board,
greeting yourself to the new world
June... that was your name
A name like a month must be celebrated
The sky's full of purple and blue
That day's wind blew through with pride
Your sharp and witty smile made its way towards my desk
I blinked rapidly, unsure what to do
Should I smile back? Thumbs up, "you did a good job"?
I nodded, it felt like the whole world stopped
Just for us, it felt so safe
What would a normal person do in this case?
EXPLANATION
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Honestly, there wasn't much inspiration beyond this poem. I wrote it in the month of June when my mother randomly mentioned in conversation that the beach downtown was opening tomorrow, and this poem came to mind. There are a few things I envisioned when I wrote it though like in the introductory section, I imagine the two protagonists of A Silent Voice and how they met. When I was describing the bark and various shades of lined brown (the beach dock), I couldn't stop thinking of that one Diary of a Wimpy Kid Poptropica game that's on the beach dock... that's all I think of when it comes to beach docks anyway. I gave the girl blonde hair to represent the sand of the beach, I don't have any visuals in mind of who she actually is though. But I envision her with blue eyes too for the sky. In the second paragraph, I wanted it to be as if the guy currently had a crush on the girl, hence the "this was an opportunity I couldn't miss", and they were on the beach dock, a place that reminds him of her. The beach was not yet open though, so they couldn't go on the sand to the beach. So from there, he decided he will wait for June, both the month and the girl, to confess his feelings. He was waiting for the month of June to confess to June, the girl, and he was also waiting for June, the girl, to say how she felt about him. I thought I was super clever for that... The third paragraph is another time skip, where the confession in (and to) June was successful, and now they're back at the beach, which I like to imagine is where they currently are for their wedding ceremony. So now that they're getting married, he now has June, the girl who reminds him of the beach, in his grasp. The title of this poem actually used to be "The Beach Opens in June", and I wanted it to be a play on words with her name (yet again) where although it is true that the beach opens in June, the girl, June, who reminds him of the beach, also opened up to the guy in June, aka she replicated his feelings for her. I've got no fucking clue why it's Summer Break now. The original felt too long, I guess. I don't like long titles.
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SONG CHOICE
I chose Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard as the poem's song representation because I feel the instrumental fits this story's vibe perfectly. Some alternative rock and party vibe to it, and you can really feel the beach/ocean in it. The lyrics also represent the poem pretty well and fit the same standards in regard to the two people in the story getting older and developing their relationship in the first verse. The difference in Ocean Avenue though is that their relationship eventually departs.
Wooden borders, click clack,
Your eyes shined like the bark,
various shades of lined brown -
The silence between our lips,
this was an opportunity I couldn't miss
The wind blew through your blonde silk strands
The lights reflecting on the sand beneath us
You remind me a lot of the beach
We will have to wait for June to see what will unleash​
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The sun sank as we re-encountered past memories
Our hands entwined and became one
It had been six years since our first encounter
I wouldn’t want it any other way,
and this was only just the start
of a future with the beach in my grasp
