i've always loved the smell of rain - Emily wingfield

i've always loved the smell of the rain

and how droplets form on car windows where

you

spoke to

me

that

evening

when

i

thought

there

was

no

longer

time

the rain reminds me of that bench on sarah street where i thought i fell in love

now i wonder if love no longer looks for people like me

but people like you who craft ideas never manifested beyond

staring at my ceiling and hearing

rain

droplets

find

their

way

down

to my

windowsill

---

EMILY WINGFIELD is a 21-year-old BIPOC, queer, womxn creative living in Charleston, South Carolina. She is the author of the poetry collection BARELY THERE, SURVIVING, which was self-published in May 2021, and the author of the poetry collection THE CORNER OF FISHBURNE AND ASHLEY, which was published by Bottlecap Press in January 2022. Aside from these chapbooks, her work has been published in a variety of university interdisciplinary journals and literary magazines. She is pursuing a B.A. in History with a minor in Education from Arcadia University and will graduate in May of 2022. Following graduation, she will be the Executive Assistant for Development and Stewardship at the Coastal Community Foundation of SC in North Charleston, South Carolina. Outside of her academic and career pursuits, Emily engages in a wide-variety of volunteer and creative works. She is a founding member of the online poetry collective, Tenderheart Collective (@tenderheartcollective on Instagram), she assists the leadership team of the Charleston Black Lives Matter chapter (@chs_blm on Instagram), and she engages in a number of other local volunteer opportunities. You can find her on Instagram @_emilywingfield, Twitter @emilyywingg, and online at linktr.ee/emilywingfield.