Promdemic

from prom to vaccine
in a short eight-hour night
(let science save us)

Pandemic Prom

there's no heartbreak here
just my girl, eighteen years old,
ready to face them

sneakers underneath
(pandemic proms are outdoors,
under tents, in grass)

she's taller, braver.
in her silver floor-length gown,
she masters the night

and aren't we a crowd?
this master-mix of humans,
standing on these rocks?

unsinkable us
right below the Molly Brown
(ready to swim. Win.)

graduating girl
ready to face the world
one ray at a time

self-portrait art show
for my two youngest daughters
sunflower, glass shine

first day of first job
(the best COVID milestone)
let us shed this slump

blooming badminton
(a few moments of teen peace
before bickering)

the blooms of today
will disappear tomorrow
and it hurts. it hurts.

a birthday ski day
followed by badminton, cake
and these perfect blooms

my sunflower girl,
her modernist self-portrait 
so true to her soul

when April snow comes,
she draws perfect silhouettes 
before spreading soil