I Knew This Girl in High School, by Billy Howell-Sinnard

Portrait of an Unknown Model, by Amedeo Modigliani (Italy). 1910s?

I Knew This Girl in High School

This could be her, at least, 
this is how I remember her, 
older than us, wiser, 
out-of-reach eyes 
letting everything in. 

Junior boys who got drunk 
on Saturday nights 
all wanted her. 

She let cigarettes burn 
to ropes of ash, 
drank Tequila shots, 
lemon and salt a sacrament. 

She drew lilies in textbooks, 
hid her poetry under the bed. 

She blew classes with senior boys. 
They wagered on the colour 
of her pubic hair,
listened to her 
as they would their mother. 

Rumours of an older man, 
she dropped out of college, 
backpacked through Europe. 

At a used bookstore, 
I found a poetry chapbook, 
Charcoal Lilies, 
cover art by the poet, 
keep it under my bed.

Billy Howell-Sinnard

Billy is a hospice case manager, visual artist, and poet. He's had numerous first, second, and third place wins at IBPC (InterBoard Poetry Community). His poem, Hospice Nurse, won second place for poem of the year for 2014-2015. Several of his poems have been published in anthologies and at online poetry sites.