During the Class Break…
I am dreaming again, of a lover
drawing his fingertip along the bridge
of my nose, following that secret line
dividing my lips in four halves,
Under the bright, dusty haze of a mid-morning sun,
under its warm, smoldering rays caressing my neck with flames,
I am waiting for the touch that stays
and in the meantime I conjure the owner
of that hand in my mind. I imagine them
in the faces of delivery men and librarians.
in roommates, in colleagues, in friends.
They tell me I’ll find it when I stop looking,
but my eyes don’t even close when I sleep.
They tell me too, that I’ll be disappointed when
my fantasies fall subject to reality.
But then again, don’t all lovers start as dreams
and finish as them in the end.
Simone John-Vanderpool is about to begin her second year as an English Lectrice at the University of Picardie Jules Vernes. She received her BA/MA in Psychology and French from Wesleyan University, and has been teaching English in France since the fall of 2020. Her lifelong curiosity about the human condition and the nature of empathy naturally led her to develop a passion for psychology and of course, the world of literature. Simone is relatively new to the poetry scene, but has been published in The Foundationalist in 2018 and 2020, as well as in Impspired in 2023. Alongside writing, Simone enjoys practicing roller derby and running along the Somme in her free time.
