top of page

The Garden Gate by Isabel Ostheimer

Round and Round

Panting.

Their breaths mingling in the air

Laughing.

Heads tilted toward the sky

Shouting and hollering

At the top of their lungs

Racing.

To catch the other

Chasing.

Chasing what?

A dream, a chance, a hope, a vision.

A future with each other as friends

Side by side as they’ve always been.

She hikes up her skirts

As her friend lets down her hair.

They always are the perfect pair.

To chase one another through a maze

They can’t just laze around for the rest of the day.

When they’re together, they’re always a force,

The mischief they inspire is tremendous

Terrifying the lords, the servants, and the cows.

As one gives chase, the other one stops.

They trip over one another and fall to the ground

A tangle of hair

A tangle of skirts

A tangle of laughter.

The laughter dies off as they realize their compromising position.

The girl on top makes to move, but she looks into the other’s eyes

And they are wide and deep and filled with so many emotions

Love and lust

Devotion and desire

Gratefulness and greed

The one underneath bites her lip

And the one on top can’t help but lean down to take a bite as well.

Their kiss is sloppy, they’ve never done it before

But their passion is there and their love is true

And in each other’s lips they taste

The salty tears of laughter and the sweat of days shared

They withdraw from each other as the bottom one places another chaste kiss

On the lips of the other before throwing her off to continue their game.

And they dance through the garden, through the hedges and the maze.


Love Makes the World Go Round

It’s strange that first love can come in many forms

It can happen at the drop of a hat

You look into each other’s eyes and bam.

It can also be a long time in the making.

Like those two girls chasing each other around.

Their mischief and schemes are the talk of the town.

But here they are being sweet and sharing a moment.

They see love and they grasp it and hold on for dear life.

I feel like a creep peering through the slats in the gate.

For just a glimpse of what first love feels like.

I wish to experience that sensation once more

But youth is ripped from you along with your heart.

If only I could go back in time and take a tableau.

Just to live that feeling of first love,

Thinking it’s true love.

Maybe it is true love, but I wouldn’t know.

No girl has left me for real, but by the time it ends, they are long gone.

So watching these girls with love in their hearts

With elation in their steps

I can’t help but feel sorrow for their future heartbreak.

And pain for what once was mine.

0 views

Recent Posts

See All

Just Say Nothing By Anonymous

Everyone says “Stand up for your rights.” “Don’t let other people have any say in your life.” But when I try that Everyone just stares at...

bottom of page