Teen Spirit | C.E. Collins
There was something
That summer that smelled like…
You made me Nirvana mixtapes
Smashing Pumpkins I scoured the lyrics
For messages. Are you asking me something?
There was something
That summer.
You wore crushed velvet blazers crimson
Gorgeous against
Pale skin, face powder on the collar
Intimate
You smelled of salt and vinegar crisps sour
Against Superdrug body spray
Your hair
Your hair
Your hair
blond as ashes long
There was something
That summer that smelled like …
Pictures of Billy Corgan Kurt Cobain blue-tacked to our desk lids
Open a gasp of feeling
And you in profile lit
By sun through the classroom window
There was something
That summer That smelled like…
C.E. Collins is a Morris-dancing, shanty-singing former teacher who writes. Her poetry has been published by Sudo Journal, Not Very Quiet, Animal Heart Press, Frazzled Lit Magazine, Fawn Press and Seedlings Studio, among others. Her writing is inspired by intense attachment to Place and general love and fibre.