Emma

15

Dandelions

You walk and notice the splinter in the curb at your feet,
where the earth has pushed through concrete and
a line of weeds has settled in a crevice.
The water-splashed, stained, laminated "Missing!"
poster for a black-and-white calico cat is pinned to every available surface,
as if to better the chances of Fluffy remembering he has somewhere to be.
You notice the breeze stretching its fingers through your hair and the light pit,
pat, your worn-down Converse sneakers make against the sidewalk,
dandelions against the base of a rusty chain-link fence, facing upward
toward a sky expanding wider than the world could ever be.