After L. Mari Harris
This girl collects scratch and sniff stickers of strawberry milk and vanilla. Casts smiles in family photos. Agrees to sunscreen, swirls capital M for Mrs. Someday in the sand. Dismisses desserts and family summer vacations. Warms beer bottles in hands, smiles at boys in Camaros. Writes Jordache and Swatch for birthday lists. Smiles for Christmas, for New Year’s. Kicks her hopes and herkies high on the cheer team. Throws up her skirt behind the bleachers for her boyfriend’s best friends. This girl is almost intangible on the night’s shoreline. Dusted, rinsed, and shuffled farther down the years for someone to discover her again.
Shareen K. Murayama is the author of three poetry books Housebreak (Bad Betty Press, 2022) and Girl, Are You in the Experimental Group (Harbor Editions, 2022), & The Mother Who Couldn’t Describe a Thing if She Could (Harbor Editions, 2024).
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