February 20, 2024

how to be 8 
for Gilly

Wake up without the yoke of the headlines, your sleep freed 
of any obligation to carry you through the day. Bounce like a pogo
into the kitchen as the others move in a clumsy do-si-do of coffee cups,
then sprawl the length of your limbs across any laps monopolizing the couch.
Ask for a shake of chocolate sprinkles across each half of your English muffin,
watch them melt into the divots. Pass the pad of your finger through, say
”I’m making a mud path” to anyone who asks. Practice your whistling,
your favorite ballet combination, all the lyrics of the pop star’s latest album.
Let no one disturb your wonder—not now, not ever. Save it in every pocket. 
Pin it loosely in your hair. Scatter it like pixie dust into every room you enter.