Lulu_D

I wanted to stay there forever

Under that tree with you.

I wanted to lie there

Live beneath the sky's blue.

I wanted to look at the constellations at night

And name the clouds' shapes in the daytime.

We are most likely to act like someone we aren't.

We are most likely to be smarter than we look.

We are most likely to have everything we need but want more.

We are more likely to see a double rainbow than have peace.

The girls drum their fingernails

Lightly

Not like real drumming

More like timid rain.

Their nails extend

Two nail lengths past

today i am sixteen,

but in five days i turn seventeen

i lie on the bridge between my childhood,

and the promising future ahead of me.

as i held dearly onto my most beloved stuffed animal,

How did we get here?  
With a man who lies  
and stirs the storm,  
who turns hate into headlines  
and power into a joke.

maybe one day i'll see you

at a class reunion 20 years in the future

you'll have gotten taller than i am in heels

your hair will no longer be curled and bleached but