it was the day we laughed so hard
we made the tulips bloom
i was seven
it was sunny
we were running like children do
a game of kick-the-can
happiness all balled-up in our eyes
shooting out of us in shrieks and bellows
“i’m an elephant”
she declared
and i decided i was, too
a carefree elephant
with nothing to do
but chase the wind
they say it whips you in the face
but this isn’t how it works
it you run hard enough
the wind bores right into you
i don’t remember anything else
except the sweet smell of the earth
the wind carried the rest away…
-Beth Pfeffer