Forgotten sketch books piled in a jammed drawer

Yoda, her ragged beige cat with glassy green eyes

Crumbled notes of secrets passed along in classrooms

A battery-dead gameboy filled with laughter and frustration

The altered memories of a past life in a world away

Away from her scattered paintings in a sharp white desk

From the slow wink of her black cat’s yellow eyes

From the lively beginning of a leaf on a rubber plant

And reflections scribbled in too many notebooks

There is a possible breeze in the hot humid air

A whispering haze of love from a disappearing dream

The promise of a smile in the brown eyes of a stranger

That spreads warmth in the coldest parts of her

And she steps forward with grateful uncertainty

Into the day.