What is said and what isn’t

I like books
not as much as I like you though
reading a book is like getting to know you
exciting and endlessly interesting (sometimes)

An uncertain look, an awkward smile, a touch,
a gaze, a haze, a failure and another look
all in rapid sequence

A poem, the unknown, what is said and what isn’t
what happens and what doesn’t happen all happening simultaneously
confusion, delusion, exclusion and longing for you to be in my arms

A talk, a gawk and a cheeky grin
endlessly trying to get your attention

Things I feel, things that are real
let out and shoved back in again for the journey ahead

The scribbling of a man, a boy, a person left in the dark on what to do, what to say and how to say it

The longing and yearning, twisting and turning but if I get you and you get me, it’ll be worth it all for us.

by Jack Allen, 18, Boherbue Comprehensive, Ireland