OverTheRainbow

From the moment we are born 

We are given a gift

And at first we don't realize it

As children we think less about the why and the how

Time seems to move slower when it rains 

Cars hesitate before they turn 

Bird wings lag as raindrops batter their feathers 

The world seems small and heavy 

I don't want the cold hallways,

their chill seeping underneath 

my thin regulation gown and settling in my bones.

I don't want the nurses,

with their tight, sympathetic smiles

I remember she smelled like cheap canned beer and Ajax dish soap;
Like that industrial elevator onto McClure 4, with the rainbow carpet walls sticking to its skeleton.

Child, your future is best left unspoiled, so I may be too vague, or not vague enough. Don’t be afraid of  the contents within this letter . . .

A long, slim ball of English cream

curls up against the velvety crimson stairs,

like an entity of white against maroon.

His ears perk up as I amble closer,