Little Things

By Eva Rami

It goes like this: the little things will start to matter more. Once, we satiated our longings by professing them exuberantly, singing, kissing. Now, we move the stars in silence—sitting long hours in quiet company on a balcony and swatting mosquitoes away from one another’s arms, because the words will always elude us, but killing insects is innate. We muddy the hems of our jeans—meandering home after a day’s rain, when the runoff has puddled and drenched the concave asphalt—because folding up the cuffs of our jeans means surrendering to some unspoken direction, and we would rather suffer another load of laundry than risk being called a do-gooder. Someone will smile at us, a second too long, and we will construct careful narratives of a future. We live our adolescence like this: arms open, eyes pleading, for someone to brave with us this gnarled land. Perhaps this is how we live our whole lives. We wonder: were we sculpted by God’s hand only for our hearts to spend the rest of time seeking again such a divine touch?

Let us sit here. Hold

me now. Then, I may know what

It is to be seen.

About the Author...

Eva Rami is a current junior at the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas, where she studies creative writing. Eva’s work has received recognition from the Scholastic Arts & Writing Competition and the New York Times student contests. Recently, she was named a Texas Young Master of Creative Writing by the Texas Cultural Trust and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

About the Artist...

Moss Edwards is a 12th grade visual artist at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. Their work includes scenes from their own life, incorporating exaggerated colors, lighting, and elements to create a new world. They enjoy experimenting with mediums including cardboard, oil pastels, and colored pencils to create more texture.