maelynslavik

When I was little

My favorite color

Was pink

I wore dresses

To school

With matching

Floral headbands

Then I turned ten

On the hearth

there is a fireplace

it has a pile of chopped logs,

coals,

torn up pieces of newspaper

awaiting their burnt endings

On the hearth

a fire burns

flickering and crackling

i used to dream

of the day

i started middle school,

thinking the excitement

of getting older

outweighed the pain

of growing up.

my teachers wondered why.

and now that i'm in