I Wondered What Would Become of my Boy
By: Loukia Borrell
Voice of Eve
2018
His younger sister signed the graduation card
and she was philosophical, writing in clear print
that she would miss him and the house would be
lonely, come August, but that is the way life is.
Nothing ever stays the same and no one stays put.
I wish I knew that, too, but May caught me by
surprise. He turned eighteen, soccer season ended,
prom was over and the school year catapulted
to a finish. He was a high school graduate and
was going to leave for college and shock me,
the way you are shocked when time is bent and
twisted, crushing you like a folding, metal chair
that collapses while you are still sitting in it.
I lingered over his graduation gown, ironing the thin
fabric, carefully positioning the shiny, satin
honor stoles and cords, all for our leading man.
After it ended, after summer’s heat waned and
I was left feeling less than amazing and exhausted,
I would pause by my closet, where I quietly hung
his regalia, so I could secretly brush my fingertips
over it all and pretend he was still living here and that
I knew everything that would become of my boy.
