Emily Weiss
He tore the ruby fabric of the dress apart

The ladybug that crept along the steps
was watched, intently, by the prying eyes
belonging to a wilted little boy.
His mood was dampened by his useless watch-
eyes glazed upon the idle ladybug
engulfed in formal red attire. A dress.

Of esoteric quality, this dress
possessed of too much beauty for the steps.
Against the boldly clothed red ladybug,
the stairs appeared unpleasant to the eyes
of lonesome bodies venturing to watch.
At least, a body dressed up like a boy.

The peerless waif-who longed to be a boy,
who longed to walk the streets in fancy dress,
his wrist adorned with gold, a diamond watch,
who longed to outshine plain, distasteful steps-
would never rest in line with loving eyes.
With love in mind, he eyed the ladybug.

Such unfair luck! The envied ladybug
now seemed to strut its wealth before the boy,
and boast its fortune boldly 'fore the eyes
that couldn't greet the town amid silk dress.
The boy moved closer to the pallid steps,
intent on finishing his restless watch.

His thoughts of likely futures plagued this watch.
As fear began to grow, the ladybug
continued unaware along the steps.
His face became distraught and pale. The boy
saw closets, men, that never held a dress,
and feared that status lured all female eyes.

And as he thought of lovely, star-filled eyes,
of men and women, silk, the diamond watch,
he tore the ruby fabric of the dress
apart. The lucky, wealthy ladybug
was squashed beneath the poorly furbished boy
and crushed upon the ghastly wooden steps.

Destroyed-the ladybug that paled the steps,
the haunted need to watch, the dreamed-of dress.
But what remained? The eyes, the want, the boy.

_ _

Emily Weiss is an emerging writer, originally from Pittsburgh, PA. She attended high school at Shady Side Academy, at which point she was awarded a National Scholastic Gold Medal for her short story entitled Androgynous: A More Complete Definition. She is currently enrolled as a freshman at Princeton University, where she plans to pursue a degree in English and a certificate in Creative Writing, in addition to her hobbies of choir singing and crocheting.

>> Back to Issue 21, 2018