“Ode to Loss,” by Ryan Thich
April 2, 2024
I forget your love hurts
How others forget death
To say these blurry motions of mines
Aren’t of my heavy eyes, even
I forget dreams exist at night
It’s your starry eyes, blue skin
Blue lips, still hair
Still, I’m not ready to face you
Cause just knowing you’re close
Is enough to make my heartbeat sing
And it grips the back of my head,
A ripping motion of feelings follows
Rippling cold chills across my spine
I spin with vertigo in one emotion;
Dreadful, to know you’ll come some day
If I long for you, I don’t know
It’s in the back of my mind you lie
Still, I can’t help but let you stay
And so I’ll wait for your love
How others wait for death
This poem was written by Ryan Thich, as an 11th grader at Franklin High School with WITS writer-in-residence, Clara Olivo. Performed at the Seattle Arts & Lectures Poetry Series event with Victoria Chang on April 2, 2024.