The Haze of a Young Girl’s Gaze

By: Meredith Gilbert 

A small child peers over the fence to the yard next door,

An adult grieves their youth with heartfelt sympathy. 

The grass reaches for the sun's rays, 

despite the landscaper with cracked knuckles.

But the sunshine fills the air with mother’s smell

and holding dad's calloused pinky finger. 

Keep moving, never stop, it was all meant for you. 

The deep brown eyes of the moon watch you grow up,

But the flush in my face comes from the constellations. 

Brown eyed girl and sunshine's touch, 

The waves kneel to Orion's three. 

As I look over the fence, 

I meet the gaze of myself as a young girl. 

I tell her, “You are golden, 

Freckled with beauty, 

My star,