smiling at my mother
as I tried on the tiara and veil
for her upcoming wedding
and my role as flower girl.
This is my curly brown hair
tugged back to expose
my chubby three-year-old cheeks
dark blue eyes cast in shadows
in the house my grandparents lived
those fourteen years ago.
Dark blue overalls that
I didn't bother wearing
a shirt under because
who would criticized a three year old
on their clothing choices?
This is before the wedding
before the miscarriages
and heart ache from
dead beat dads
before I felt a fathers love
before I grew up too soon
and before I realized how screwed
our entire world was.
This was before the other shoe dropped.
That last line is a gut kicker...You've done such a powerful job of juxtaposing the innocence before and the (undesired) knowledge of after. Your "chubby three-year-old cheeks" are just precious.
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