Please Look At Me by Julia Aguirre

Flashing lights through the city that never sleeps

No hand in my own, yet he still charges forward

No mind of where I am, no guard to keep

Is it trust, or is it indifference

That drives him to look straight ahead?

The crowds bustle and threaten to swallow me whole

I push past and quicken my pace

I stumble, and still he doesn’t look, too focused on the goal.

All this to prove a point to a myth. To prove it isn’t that hard.

How could Orpheus have looked back?

I find myself slow to a stopping point, until I’m standing still

He doesn’t look back. He doesn’t notice me.

And I know he never will.

Bio

Julia Aguirre is a new author from Texas with a passion for storytelling. She specializes in fiction and poetry and is currently working towards publishing a novel. While she works towards her goal of becoming a full-time writer, she is working as an assistant librarian. She has been published in three different magazines and podcasts, and is working toward her master’s in library science.

Author's note

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice has my heart forevermore. How awful it is that he turned around too soon…but how awful would it be if he was not tempted to look at all? I wrote ‘Please Look at Me,’ to explore the pain of being a modern day Eurydice, whose lover will not turn back for her, even to make sure she’s alright. It shows how too often, our love is shallow and fades as time goes by, and we are left wondering if we are simply not worth the risk of a single glance.