Sarah Marquez

Shopping on Ventura

The world is twice as troubled in the daytime.
You and I walk the sunlit boulevard and see

a home furnishing store closing for good.
Everything on sale must go. Afternoon crowds

the windows inches from us. Our reflections
ready to pass through. Inside, empty shelves

hold themselves together for the final pause,
while we reach for something new. Set our hands

loose from tethered wrists. No one sees your
shadow flit between the watercolor carpets

hanging like curtains or draws my attention
from the farmhouse buffet table. Neglected.

Like new but for the white oak finish chipping
off. We split the building in two. I take one side.

Leave behind my desire to save what is left.
This moment, with you still in it. You take

the other and find a deal on accent pillows.
Tell me that browsing the end is the most

unpredictable fun. Sun bends out of view
too long. Shade is dangerous. I imagine,

we will buy nothing, like everyone else.
Move on and forget this place ever existed.

Leave an imprint of our blues in the dust
collecting on the rustic lampshades.

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Sarah Marquez (she/her) is an MA candidate at Southern New Hampshire University. She is based in Los Angeles and has work published and forthcoming in various magazines and journals, including Amethyst Review, Capsule Stories, Ink&Nebula, Kissing Dynamite, Peculiars Magazine and Twist in Time Magazine. When not writing, she can be found reading for Periwinkle Magazine and Random Sample Review, sipping coffee, or tweeting @Sarahmarissa338.