Days

From Disney Fast-Play on the DVR

To picking out a reliable car

Monster High Dolls on a carpet floor

2am laughter muffled by a closed door

Blunt bad jokes that shrug off life

Slices of mango that slide off the knife

Bitter black coffee with a bit too much sugar

The crunch of a leaf and the wind that took her

Pineapple scents from a curly hair routine

Smiling as it finally feels like me

Lively family dinners almost every night

Dreams of a dorm room with warm fairy lights

Parading Marshall’s men’s sections for baggy tees

For something to hide what feels like me

An awkward side part in middle school

And a fear of never really being that cool

Years of trying that curly hair routine

Straightening my hair to make it “look neat”

On my own route in a family car

Mitski’s Last Words of a Shooting Star

Loving eyes that don’t love as they seem

A lone daughter that doesn’t get a team 

Always left out of old-kid conversation 

Yet expected to be old and wise and patient