Sunrise salsa
(For Celia, 10)
Sunrise salsa stripes
a double scoop of sky.
You will shine
with red lips
and black hair
like Snow White.
You’ll be a bard
in a band of boys.
They’ll jostle you,
sing and play with you,
dote on you.
You’ll wear a black dress
and a red beret.
Salmon lacerations melt
to whipped cream
and ice-blue
in the eastern sky.
And the best boy will tickle
the back of your neck.
Strong men like difficult girls.
Difficult girls grow up
as clever, happy women.