9 Brooke Lewis – Sonder

Brooke Lewis (She/her) is a Sophomore from Andersonville, IN and she is very passionate about creative writing. This work was prepared for Jean Harper’s English W311, who states, “Brooke’s voice grew in courage, maturity, and true originality over the course of the semester.  Her writing is thoughtful, insightful, and uniquely her own.”

Sonder

A man with a graying face reaches for cereal

A pregnant woman with two children at her legs reaches for milk

There’s a teenage girl at the register chewing gum obnoxiously

A young boy who looks too young to work stocks the soda quickly

All these people continue their activities, refusing to stray from their task

Each pair of eyes remains occupied

I wonder if the man with the graying face has a wife

If the pregnant woman is scared to give birth

If the teenage girl is working to pay for college or a car

If the young boy is working to help his family meet ends

Funny how we’re all in the grocery store doing our normal routine

Yet it’s strange how we’ll never know anything about each other.