Meter Monday: "wish"

by Alice Xu

marianne & julieanne try to freeze

summer as it blossoms in their backyard

& bursts with revivals. they perform

rituals: wolf down ice cream that sticks

to their hands like glue

while trees learn silence & birds

learn tune. fans choke down heat

& grandma rocks out in the patio,

her straw hat golding, asleep. the hide-

and-seeks leave their knees bruised

& aching for ointment, for an encore

of the sundried rocks shielding their backs,

of adrenaline coursing, of plants that covered.

marianne & julieanne preserve

summer until it melts in september.

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