Janie

By: shira

Janie’s hair is really red
So much that it stinks
And the girls spray it down with glue to keep it from curling

Rock star glasses in a schoolgirl satchel
Church mice would love to watch her whisper
For fear she’s quieter than they
And still causing more ruckus than their swishing tails

Crash home from school
Don’t skip so, you’ll skin your knees
Less ladylike than losing your head
Over popularity

Spreads her tangerine fingers apart
She’s been ransacking color from the sky again
Put it back and set it blue

Mother may she
Step inside a messy cleaned-up
Well-lit nursery
Keep her there till she’s aware she’ll commit to docile ways

Janie throws the sewing basket down
Picks up a paper cup
And fills it with the things she’s never said
But only swallowed
Spits them out sprinkler style
On herself, so she can see
The mirror droplets streak
Wipe off your reflection, young lady

Abandons rags to clean the work of art she makes
And leaves it for the bees
To make sweet when she is sour

Sly up the stairs
Meet her at the railing overhead the chandelier
Let your weary bound-up body unwind
And dance too fast for slower-moving minds

Janie’s hair is redder than the others
She moves faster than their mothers can say stop
Keep dancing, Janie
Step through the hoop into a longed, loved world
Cringing