The Specter of Cypress High - Hadyn Archambeault
She roams these hectic halls, unseen and unheard.
She mops these messy floors, her mop head leaden from water and waste.
She sweeps these soiled steps, cascading waves of dust and dirt.
She exorcizes these gray cans of their white matter.
She whistles a mourning melody, a faint echo, only heard by those who listen.
She scrubs and scrapes and sponges and strips,
Leaving behind suds of soap and bleach fumes that permeate the air.
She’s doomed to forever follow this paper trail tossed out before her, the ouroboros,
Her never-ending purgatory.
Hadyn Archambeault is a junior year English major with a double minor in film studies and creative writing. His work has been published in prior issues of ARCH Journal, and he has a passion for creative writing, editing, music, bicycling, running, and film. He’s obsessed with Letterboxd, and you can follow him @hadyngrey. When Hadyn was 9 years old, he won a hula hoop contest at Disney World.