tenderness<\/b><\/p>\n
Stella and Ryan keep bickering
\nAbout petrol, spark plugs, tires
\nAnd anything else they feel like.
\nConstant since they \u201cre-found\u201d me
\nNot that I was ever lost. I always knew.
\nSometimes wish I was still underwater.
\nBetter than air pods deep pools.
\nWe\u2019re crawling through some long
\nDeserted back streets, dodgy houses
\nCars on blocks and yards full of junk
\nWhen suddenly I see them. Two kids.
\nGirl and boy. Younger than me. Hiding.
\nOr trying too. Perhaps hoping to be seen.
\nOr saved. Stop!<\/i><\/b> I scream. And to all
\nOur surprises we do. I\u2019ve got the door
\nHalf open when Ryan grabs my arm.
\nWhatcha doing buddy? I saw two kids.
\n<\/i>They need our help<\/i>. You sure? It could be\/
\n<\/i>But he doesn\u2019t finish his sentence.
\nIt\u2019s not. How do you know<\/i>, Stella joins in.
\nI just do. Trust me<\/i>. I know without knowing
\nHow I gotta approach them like they\u2019re
\nSkittish colts. Cos they really are.
\nThey want to be friends. They just don\u2019t
\nKnow how right now. I don\u2019t speak.
\nNeither do they. I smile. The girl sort of.
\nThe boy hides behind her. I don\u2019t think
\nThey\u2019re related. They\u2019re just clinging.
\nTo whoever. I hold out a hand. Wait.<\/p>\n
Eventually. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>She takes it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" tenderness Stella and Ryan keep bickering About petrol, spark plugs, tires And anything else they feel like. Constant since they \u201cre-found\u201d me Not that I was ever lost. I always knew. Sometimes wish I was still underwater. Better than air pods deep pools. We\u2019re crawling…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":360,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,441],"tags":[4906,4535,5629,1552,5628,5627,5612,5630,4921],"class_list":["post-121525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem","category-poetry-prompt-responses","tag-2022fullmarathon","tag-apocalypse","tag-colts","tag-dropped-the-sky","tag-lost-kids","tag-neither-stella-nor-ryan-speaking-but-rueben","tag-tenderness","tag-wild-horses","tag-ya-verse-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/360"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121543,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121525\/revisions\/121543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}