Poem Number Four

 This is addicting, the whole sharing your work thing. "Paperdoll."

She skips, with her blank paper-doll eyes wide

And her hands always waving goodbye

She wears plastic rings on her hands

They leave green marks on her fingers

But she wears them anyway

She skips to the drugstore

Singing to the sky

‘Inside, outside, eevy, ivy, over.’

Again and again.

She buys two Snickers bars and a Coke

Then skips out, the soles of her shoes

Two sizes too big, slapping the pavement

She’s still singing

‘Inside, outside, eevy, ivy, over.’

She can see the beautiful things

Green paint on a fence

The smell of tamales cooking

The bright, egg-yolk sun

She gathers the clouds and keeps them

In her head

‘Inside, outside, eevy, ivy, over.’

She’s still skipping and singing

She’s still hoping

With all the wings in the world

At her back

With the wind.