attention deficit

by Eugenia Pozas

My memory works a little like 

when you throw a pebble and it creates 

tiny, perfect ripples across the lake, 

diluting in acrylic colors across white landscapes, 

spilled mercury, and leaving at least three used coffee mugs 

in an empty room.

And maybe that’s why I love fairies,

their tempers and their schemes, so ephemeral,

so manic, so quick to forget, sweet one moment 

and malevolent the next.

The palm of the mirror returns my swirling,

awake eyes to me, and I fall, asking myself

if I’ve been here for a few seconds or more.

In the ice cream parlor, you joke, 

remember when I broke your heart?

I nod and smile to please you but my glance

is already on the sunlight pooling on the sidewalk, 

lighting my hair on fire.

I touch my golden necklace, my favorite.

A stray cat curls up on my lap.

I already forgot about you.

Eugenia Pozas is a bilingual writer based in Monterrey, Mexico. Her first poetry collection in Spanish - Náufragos (Castaways) - was published in 2022 with 42 Líneas. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Dust Poetry Magazine, Stone Circle Review, The Basilisk Tree, Kaleidotrope, Sontag Mag, and Crowstep Journal. You can find her on Instagram and X as @eugepozas.