I am a girl. Every morning
I choose carefully how to dress,
but I like it best when
my clothes don’t matter.
Where I live, it is still cold.
Are you pockmarked by winter?
Is pockmarked a word
you’ve ever heard before?
What is your favorite time of day?
What is your favorite thing
about morning? If you have slept
for many days, when you wake,
does it feel like morning no matter
what time it is? When you are
very hungry, do you eat too fast?
If you found me picking berries,
would you brush me aside
or would you carry me off somewhere?
Do you think about problems
while you sleep? Sleeping is
when bones grow. Sleeping is
to love the dark. I love it so much
I want to be it, for a while,
then I wake up. Did you know
that dolphins sleep with half their brains?
Because of breathing.
Because of sharks.
Because they are mammals
but water is their home.
Have you been pulled asleep
from your home and put back
near to where you were but not exactly?
Did it seem like a dream?
from Little StrangerFind it in the library
Copyright © 2013 Lisa Olstein
Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, Inc.
on behalf of Copper Canyon Press.