Behind The Wall 

 

Reluctantly clicked that confirm button,
You penetrated my inbox with instant desire.
Ignoring you was no small task, 
You assaulted my wall with memes and likes. 
You popped up too early and way too late,
Ignoring you was our only date.
Video calls missed allowed time for you to call a thousand times more.
The harder you tried, the more I smiled behind the wall.
Your walled patience chipped me slowly,
One boring night I waved you, accidentally.
Your wave, so fast, seemed automatic.
The moment had finally come and you were ecstatic.
My thoughts slow and yours rehearsed,
Five minutes became 5000 seductive words.
The likes on the wall turned into tiny, bright red hearts.
That wall soon became a door with a welcome mat.
We both looked slightly different from our wall paintings,
You more eager to touch and I less eager to receive anything.
Our talks were much better behind the screen.
There was no wall to hide my frown and pretend some things were not seen,
You had waited long enough behind jokes and memes.
Your hands wanted permission to paint my wall more boldly, like in your dreams.
I let you, your clumsy paintbrush too rough, too small, too brittle.
I wondered if you ever painted before or just a little,
There were no bright colours!
Just a slightly dented wall in all corners!

I closed my door and built back my wall.
You went back to memes, likes and tiny red hearts.

Alice Loreen Medard is a St Lucian writer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Language Education and Literacy Studies from the University of the West Indies.  Alice is an educator by profession and also the author of a newly published novel, Silent Screams. She believes that poetry is a powerful reflection of society and should be used to educate on the inadequacies of our institutions as well as to allow others to engage in introspection and criticize inhumanity and injustices.