Mud Pies

Rustle around in the dirt

Cool and clean and bathe in the sweet mineral

The wooden playground is soft and rotten

I fall to my knees before you, scraped and smiling

I was a witch, I was a little girl

I was always wise, mature, ripe for the picking

I was crisp to bite, a sweet imperfect chew

I am concrete now, molasses and mud

The petty teenage politics were lost on me

She was warmly embraced

I was a short exhale

I was dust motes trapped and released at last

I cried out, I clung fast

Help that was no help to me

I remember your full name, you date of birth

Your social security number

Who am I to you now?

When my life is nothing, know that I remember everything