Zemira

at first

you were the loud boy on the bus 

with a red lunchbox 

full of day old spaghetti in a dented thermos

and parmesan your dad brought back from italy 

It all started with the big bang — the mighty "thwack"-ing noise that connected my body to the prickly embrace of the wood chips below. My descent from the jungle gym was far from graceful, solo mission "rescue Mr.

Today I saw my sister

the way she used to be—

not because she changed,

but because I remembered.

She was just there,

messy with noodles,

doing nothing special at all.

And somehow

Loud and noisy

the 8th grade jury had taken over the partially empty classroom

with nothing to do

no work

(it was the second day after Thanksgiving break)

playing cards dancing through the air

Being a teenager means 

Schrodinger's cat isn't just a concept anymore 

The person you are 

is simultaneously alive and dead