Alexandra

 

Alexandra

Creekside I meet
a giggly girl who says
Crawdads are tickling my toes.
From the mudbank a boy warns
If you touch her I’ll kill you.
 
She’s special, he tells me.
She hears fireflies
the sound when they light up
because she’s blind you know.
She hears colors too.

So I say I’m special
because I can smell bullshit
and what color are my pants?
Blue, she says. Blue jeans.

She talks to water striders,
says an owl is watching us with one eye
and she hears clouds fluffing in the sky.

She touches my wrist
seems to know where it will be
runs a finger up my arm through the hairs
makes me shiver.
See you later, she says. Ha ha.
Her brother leads her away.

Can love crackle in full color
just beyond our sight? Some nights
under quivering stars I listen.

…..

First published in Third Wednesday
photo by Penny Christensen