the pavement was thick
and my boots made
the most satisfying scuffing noises
when I walked up

the brass gleamed
like the lights strewn
throughout the fronds
and the house smelled of pine



there was talking and tears
(and spilled milk, no less)
and the little girl fell asleep
on the carpet of her room

he tried to fold us fortune tellers
strewing bits of paper
around the room
he said that I
"was an angel"

(I didn't believe him)

she stole my pen
and memories
and glasses
and refused to give me a hug

but she folded me a kite
and I slipped it between the folds of my bag
so that one day
I can string it up with red yarn
and let it fly

we saw the girl ride her bike
(2 wheels- she's a big girl, now)
and there was a plane in the sky
heading to some far-off place
that left pink tracks through the sky

she told me the best place
for tic-tac-toe
is the middle square
and I wondered if
the middle
is always the best place to be
?

the parents hugged me
and the boy
but the girls stood and stared
and shook their heads
(their curls bounced)

he raced us to the gate
she asked him for a high-five
I watched the lights grow smaller and smaller
shrinking in the fog

and when the cold air whipped through
through my hair and my paper-kite body
I breathed in the fog
and blew out the memories

(my hands still smell of pine)