Photo by Mike Wilson on Unsplash

Bubble

Momma thought the umbrella
too big for my tiny hands
but I proved her wrong.

It opened into a
clear bubble barrier
a rainy evening portal

droplets racing into
point-of-view
at fictious lightspeed.

At night, the raindrops
refracted streetlight into
constellation streams.

I held momma’s hand
staring up into
streaking, soaking veins

smoothed, rounded, gleaming,
luminous pinpricks

while Patrice Rushen
sent me forget-me-nots

and Stephanie Mills confessed
to never knowing
love like this before.

Momma laughed, musing
that I was too young to know
— that I was naive, ignorant of
what those songs were about,

but as I daydreamt
about the girls I pined for
in my second-grade class,
I knew better.

The chocolate frosted
donut gems momma bought me
were still fresh in my mind
echoing from grateful taste buds,

especially the thick,
honied parts that rose with heat,
bubbling while baking and

were mostly hardened
sugary goodness.

With my tiny black boots
splashing sonic indigo
puddles, I puzzled

that indeed the love
those ladies sang of

was surely a hundred times
sweeter than calcified,
chocolatized, candified,
bubbled donut shells.

Perhaps even a
bajillion times over.

Momma thought the umbrella
too big for my tiny hands
but I knew I could manage
even after a drop or two.
***