Love from Little Bear

With you, I caught butterflies in mason jars and placed them in the kitchen 

sink, even from our shadows in the backsplash, I would see

your eyes as my moon and want to swim in them. Come

swim in the lakes with me, now we can get lost in the waters

without drowning and jump off of cliffs into a forever

kind of blue. Dive deeper and I’ll tell you what we’ll find:

pebbles, a map of Chicago (stained with café au lait), the dead body

of a fish, silver buttons (discolored), an heirloom watch,

two snail shells (cracked), a book of Italian modern art, 

antique tea saucers and a lost engagement ring.

We bury them in the dirt under the front porch, they are keys

that do not belong to us. Someday they will sprout flowers

that won’t be ours. Look for ladybugs in a smear of olive green 

grass, make wishes on the speckled ones, but also:

loose beads, lost time, melted birthday candles (seventeen),

wild horses on white sand, the ring of a telephone (three times),

dropped textbooks, church floor tiles, rain that bruises 

slated roofs and stars that cement themselves to our sky.

I tell you to wish for minestrone soup and a new pair 

of rainboots. But I hope that you wish for me.

Violet Baker is a writer from New Jersey. Her work has been recognized by Scholastic Art & Writing, as well as published in her school’s on-campus literary magazine, The Red Wheelbarrow. Her one act plays have been performed at The Growing Stage State Theatre of New Jersey, Stageworks Theatre and The Traverse City Opera House. Her one act plays have also been selected as semi-finalists for The Blank Theatre’s Young Playwrights Festival. Violet currently studies creative writing at Interlochen Arts Academy, located in Northern Michigan.