Tea cup shatter
Tree bark hands
Nails dig into brick as if it wasn’t solid.

Children grip
Aluminum foil teddy bears
And snow bank run
As if the shooting stars
Won’t run out.

Baby steps they say
As if they actually believe we are going to arm’s length stride off of cliffs.

Forgive they say
As if dandelion bracelets weren’t the most sincere form of an apology.

Knuckle cracking
Corn stalk fingers.
Banana breath
And pot hole hearts.

Avoid bad boys
As if Mason jar warnings would keep their cigarette eyes away.

Newspaper stature like
Palm tree love
Spatula feet beneath
Dirt road smiles.

Stay young they say
As if we actually wanted something else.