and your eyeliner is getting thicker

the light reflects off your face

you aren’t supposed to be this pale

living here is supposed to mean you’re happy

tanned and dripping wet

as you come in to shore with the waves

but you never play in the water anymore

all you talk about anymore

is the studio loft you want to get for us

all you talk about anymore

is shopping on fifth after breakfast at tiffany’s

and writing in coffee shops in the afternoon

but i love it here

i want to stay in this cottage with you

raise our children to surf the way you used to

to love barbeques the way you used to

you never used to be this pale

you never used to stay inside

you photograph our life now more than you live it

and you traded cute crops for black sweaters

and your cutoffs are faded from salt and sun

but your sleeves have yet to fray

each night i sleep next to you seems less restful

each time i embrace you there is less of you to hold

you never used to be this pale

i want to be free like we were when we met

i want you to be happy again

i want you to run along the shore with me like you used to

i want to rub aloe into your sunburns again

you aren’t supposed to be this pale

you never used to be this pale

 

 

Lexxie Rae is a sophomore majoring in Public Relations.