Kid Stuff

In response to the prompt "Joisey 10th Annual Getaway 2003"  by Peter Murphy found in his collection called Challenges for the Delusional, edited by Christine Malvasi.  

In elementary school,

as a little girl, already keen on accents,

the way they widen the world, 

my dream vacation is New Jersey. 

The land of cousins

who are our same age, 

of storied slurpee-machine adventures, 

mythical refillable soda cups, times infinity.

Jersey swoops up my best friend

every summer. Sends her back

with a tan, a hair wrap, a smile,

and such funny stories.  

When family from Hoboken visits,

I attend the parties, I sit next to the extra seats 

at the town parade. We have a fresh face to take boogie boarding. 

We build a new appreciation for our Pacific. 

In junior high, I send and receive transcontinental 

AOL Instant Messages, to boys who are not my family,  

but technically one day could be. They're not my cousins. 

We talk mostly about basketball, but sometimes not. 

Jersey to me? 

Atlantis.

Somewhere a younger me always wanted to go, 

somewhere she hasn't been to yet.