Turning five

    What do you miss?
    asked the interviewer--
            -- Luisa A. Igloria, "What do you miss?"


My mother's gathered blue silk
beneath my fingers. Sun hat

sketching a floppy bow. Pearls
heavy as an Olympic medal.

Scratchy gold ribbon twining
my ankles, tethering my shoes.

Not yet knowing why clip-on earrings
wouldn't fool my dad for an instant.

Not yet knowing all the rules
that even God can't break. Certainty

that luncheons and pink lemonade
would last.

 

In response to What do you miss?

For further reference: Dress-up party.