Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Origami Heart - 10thDoM RoM Fuck Origami

When he asked her to continue walking with her, she said yes even though she'd already seen the parts of the aquarium he had yet to explore. The aqua hues stole her mind for a moment and she didn't notice him speaking to her, conversational tones lost in the periphery of her consciousness. When her mind was reluctantly returned and she realized she'd glazed over, she had a momentary pang of guilt, but she was glad she caught the end of the conversation.

"..introduce myself. I'm John."

"I'm Elle."

"Well, I'm glad I ran into you, or vice versa. How did that go again?"

"Either way, I suppose. Probably more me running into you."

"Well you take the blame for that, and I'll score the blame for the cranial smash."

As she gave a half-hearted laugh, she gave a whole-hearted smirk. Most of her didn't want to go with him, but those were not the parts in control of the situation. It wasn't a matter of being interested or not. He was cute and had nice lips. Another time and she'd be eager to go with him, but she needed to be single for a while, a long while, and she was the type to dive head-first into a concrete pool without first looking to see if there was even water. She could feel the beginnings of the dive, and she couldn't stop herself.

They began weaving their way through the aquarium, nearly tracing an identical path to the one Elle had already traveled. John seemed to really be interested in sharks and the more predatory species of the aquarium. There was an uneasy lack of dialogue between the two, but Elle kind of enjoyed that. She found solace and sense of calm in uncomfortable situations. Maybe it was from being constantly on edge as the only child of a resentful mother, trying to anticipate and quell the extremely volatile situations her mother created, or maybe it was that Elle knew if things were too comfortable, something terrible would have to happen soon. Such was life.

As they exited the shark exhibit and made their way to the main atrium of the aquarium, Elle realized she hadn't eaten all day and suggested they take a little break for lunch. John had already eaten but seemed happy to sit with Elle for a bit. Since it was mid-afternoon, the lines weren't long, and Elle was able to grab a salad, fries, water, and too many napkins.

John picked up a Coke and they quickly found a place to sit. Conversation flowed more easily between them as Elle ate at a strangely quick pace, and when she'd filled up on just half her salad and a few fries, neither made a move to continue their aquarium journey. As they continued talking about everything and nothing important, Elle's hands became occupied with the mess of too many napkins.

She didn't even notice what she was doing as her fingers worked nimbly to fold and refold napkin after napkin. These were high quality napkins and held their shape well without tearing, which probably contributed to the lack of attention Elle was paying to what her hands were doing while from her mouth flowed words and sentences and laughter. If John hadn't stopped mid-sentence and stared at the pile of carefully folded tiny three-dimensional hearts, Elle would have continued making the simple origami shapes unaware.

John picked up one of the two napkins left and met Elle's eyes, indicating that he wanted her to continue and he would follow. Elle kept her gaze on his face, noticing the small mole below his left eye, the way his hair hung to the right and sometimes covered his deep brown eyes, the stubble that created that five o'clock shadow look but looked as though he'd taken a few days to get to that point, and the way his lips quirked a little more to the left when he smiled. Her hands continued to work their magic, and John seemed to be concentrating with pointed interest.

When she was done, she looked down at John's first attempt at origami. It was a terrible mess and looked nothing like a heart or even anything more than a crudely folded wrinkled napkin. Elle guffawed and John's eyes lit up hearing how loud and unusual her laugh was.

"I think success!"

"Oh, is that so?"

"I got you to laugh - I mean really laugh."

"Yeah."

"But you know what?"

"What?"

"Fuck origami."

At that, Elle smiled, really truly smiled.

"Yeah. Fuck origami."

She emptied the tray of thirteen carefully crafted and one crudely crumpled heart into the nearest trash bin.



Origami Heart

Take a look
Each fold a past
Each crease an end
The smooth sweet edge

The way I fold
I'm paper thin
Under your hand
Your strong rough hand

I have an origami heart
And I fold with you from the start
I have an origami heart
Oh, please be careful with me

With silent aches
And words unsaid
In etches only
Hearts unfold

You see my smile
It tears with ease
Oh, hold it soft
Origami heart

I am an origami heart
And I told the truth from the start
I am an origami heart
Oh, please take care of me

Like crisp rice sheets
Perforated lines
Razor scored glass
A cracked mirror hold
I'll tear to shreds
Pitiful and small
Oh, sweet origami heart

Hold it close
But keep some space
I crush with ease
As I break

Oh, turn me up
And pinch my sides
Your fingers crease
Upon my edge

I was an origami heart
And I said, with it I cannot part
I was an origami heart
Oh, please return it to me

Be gentle love
I'm fragile, frail
Please soothe my heart
Origami heart

Too strong a hand
Crumples my folds
A docile grip
Will keep us close

I had an origami heart
And I folded quickly from the start
I had an origami heart
Oh, fuck it. Origami heart

5 comments:

  1. The dialog is stilted. The lyrics are clever, but "I'm a poet" clever. We know how I feel about "I'm a poet" clever.

    Still... there's someone I want to send these lyrics to.

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  2. best song lyrics so far,
    story's coming along fine too

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  3. The weird part is that I'm starting to sing the story copy in my head, before I even get to the lyrics. -J

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  4. The guy sounds slightly familiar :). This is my second time reading through. You have a very creative take on the river!

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  5. What you're doing with this story, and the songs, is simply amazing. I'm having to do a quick read because time is running out. But after voting, I'm coming back to read and savor more thoroughly.

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