ANIMAL CRACKER GIRL

Just what are you about?  At times I thought I
knew.  The first time we met you laughed and were
pleasantly loud.  You were the girl with smiles 
WHITE with teeth who hopped around all calm
and cool.

The second time you seemed withdrawn as you
told me about your past.  I listened to your
soft-spoken voice in awe.  You phrased each
word so carefully as not to fracture your mouth.
I wanted and waited to tell you about the crumbs
on the side of your mouth, but I thought it would
break your fragile state.  The crumbs looked
familiar, but were still unrecognizable.  I kept
on wondering why you didn’t smile.  I thought
maybe you weren’t interested in me anymore.

I wandered around pondering for days and
eventually happened to run into you on
the street.  I smiled and said hello as you
pounced well past the cute, silly girl who
said she liked to eat ice cream at six in the
morning.  You brought in this drill sergeant 
who looked so much like you that I had to
breathe twice as hard to catch my thoughts.

I tried to run away from your verbal
Aerobics, but I still heard you from
three blocks away.  I ran my legs numb and
fell down in the grass.  I woke up to your
face and took two breaths to scream, but
you smiled and laughed and fell down with
me.  You said you were hungry.  You told me
to pet you and find you a flower.  Like the
bably-baked misshapen animal crackers
you’ve been eating, I can’t tell if you’re
a kitten or a tiger.






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