with your stuffed rabbit and your striped sweater
and follow that crowded street to mystery
farther
and farther
away from
the skylight and the curved metal of the bridges
the bleach white dome and the Mississippi
you take your striped sweater and you stretch it over your eyes
and cry on that black top road to nowhere.
months pass and anticipation fades your second-hand foreign uniform
your forced white tennis shoes are gray
tomorrow is homecoming day
you pack your bags and move on out
with your stuffed rabbit and your striped sweater
and follow that crowded street back
Megann, age 16