“Ute Park, New Mexico” by Jacqueline Reynolds

She sits with her legs crossed.
Her faded, stained jeans hang loose on her thin hips.
Wrinkled bare feet tingle at the mountain breeze,
grey curls tangle down her slumped spine.
The wooden swing rocking back and forth,
back and forth her mind contemplates
jumping into the shallow river a few yards in front of her
as she drinks the old bottle of white wine
nestled in her lap.
She forgets whether the sun is rising
or setting,
the blurry blend of orange…blue…purple…blue.
Looking to the sky she screams, Lord make room for him
Then thinks of climbing off the rocking, wooden bench,
jumping into the shallow river
while the sun makes up its mind.
But the wine bottle is almost empty
and her droopy, wrinkled eyes slowly shut.
Orange…blue…purple…blue.

Jacqueline Reynolds is a Journalism major at the University of Georgia and is currently working on the Interdisciplinary Writing Certificate. She attended the Juniper Institute for young writers at UMASS Amherst and was the head editor of Trinity Valley High School’s literary magazine. These submissions are a part of a poem series inspired by the universal feeling of emotional pain.