Zemira

Even as we carry the whole world

On our backs, we

Breathe our girlhood through

Whispers and giggles at the lunch table and

Stars brushed across eyelids that have

It started off with two moms, two best friends,
with two young girls with the biggest smiles.
Making handshakes that would last a lifetime,
listening to songs we would sing and dance to,
sharing our laughs and giggles,

Hey. So, it’s me. Like always. Also, it’s 12:30. I’m sure you’ll remember that, like always, I would love to be able to sleep. Maybe you’ll just give me another hour or two? See, I had things to do. Poetry. A portfolio.

I’ve started looking forward to the little things a little more 

Than I look forward to next year

Because it feels like next year is uncertain.

I’m excited to eat peanut butter toast in the car before skiing,

I'm

the concert kind of sick

just-one-more-day-of-health

feeling-the-sneeze-coming sick

sniffles and tissues and begrudging resignment

but if I can just make it

one

The light rises and

The darkness, it disappears

Love enters, hate leaves