Late August
​Astrid Carlen

The last days slipped by
in bed, away from mosquitoes 
and the miles between our towns,
A song played on the radio
and another echoed like rain
spilling into the ocean,

I remember warm skin
and sentences without end
Silence and sleep, only page breaks
in the story we wrote
with the lights off, always
willing the promises
whispered into the sheets to grow 
into something binding,

At night I watched 
the beautiful monster 
lean against the moonlit wall
Our shadow--
Gone with the sunrise

Astrid (PO '28) is a sophomore at Pomona. She enjoys the expo line at Frary and swimming in natural bodies of water. ​