Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets.
Maia Clapp Duhau will be a senior at DeKalb High School this fall. Duhau uses the pronouns they/them. They enjoy drawing, reading, playing music, and going for bike rides. They hope to one day create a graphic novel. Here’s their poem “Inevitability.”
My abuelita sits down next to me on the couch
As I absently pick my cuticles
Waiting for time to pass
"Can I say something sad?"
She asks, and I nod, curious
My abuelita is never sad
"Every time I do something
I'm afraid it's the last time"
I nod again, to show I understand
We sit in silence
Thinking
And I steal a glance at her eyes
Surprised to find them glistening
With a wetness I had never seen in them before.
We sit for a while
Quietly
Before she gets up to load her luggage in the car
To fly back to Mexico City
And I feel closer to her
Than before
76, 16
Her, me
Afraid together.
