I wait at the bus stop on the first good morning in a while

by Callista Pitman

Poetry Contest for Teens Runner-Up, Senior High Category (Grades 11-12)

I wait at the bus stop on the first good morning in a while

/ morning moons / white plates / lost milk teeth /

/ moths with cocoon cling / paper wings /

/ the way the world swells

dizzy / with possibility
/ lungs / tides /

/ the clementine I take from the chipped bowl / small sun in my bag / a memory of sweet /
/ orange as tiger lilies / halfway forgotten in the waning shadows /

/ the blue morning

petals /

/ sky shifting silk / shoes clattering as the bus tilts / and we sway /
/ scattered peels, sugar horizon /
/ this is how we dream / I remember, now /

/ a moon in an imaginary phase. an ocean tide crests from the pavement of the basketball court.
the apartment building crowned with candles. the girl on the swingset holding a tin can of stars /

/ a wayward green sphere /

/ young / bridges / curve like spines over my head /