2013 MONTGOMERY COUNTY
YOUTH POETRY CONTEST

7-9 GRADE WINNER

Leanne Siorek
Norristown High School

Taget Practice

Target practice.
It’s all about target practice.
Cupid messed up his arrows and they struck me right in the eye,
but my lips still know how to aim for yours.
I have the capability to painfully wrap my arms around your torso
and I get urges to constrict your ribcage as if to convince your heart to beat again.
I know how to look you in the eyes
when yours dart around the room to avoid my questions
and I hear words you’ve kept in the back of your throat
like coiled serpents flicking their tongues through your teeth.
I see your nervous habits like nails down to the quick
and guess how fast your lips chap when you lick them
before delicately plucking out words from the inside of your mind
just to flow over your taste buds like rivers of every consolidation you’ve ever
learned
and I know this.
I know how every joint sounds when you pop it.
I know the look your face contorts to when you cry
and how low you hang your head
as if the weight of the world rested on your defined shoulders.
I know the taste of your body so well I could manufacture recipes and sell them,
and how slightly crooked your bottom teeth are
because I’ve studied the bite marks you leave
like a first semester college student.
Cupid may have missed but not nearly as greatly as I’ve missed you.
Target practice makes for a perfect shot, but I’ll just have to settle with aiming for
your cheek.