Decked out, half cat,
half goddess (pen
thin whiskers, cape,
and jumprope tail)
the girl extols
her sudden luck
a door that locks,
a costume box,
a family not
about to knock.
Belief begins
with ritual
rehearsed: the way
she waves a prism
occasioning
the exorcism
of sawdust fauna,
topless dolls,
and heroes from
an army set;
how, long before
a note can stir
the mum balloon
her brain contains,
she’s finished growing
singular,
exacting love
for this world
she made herself
the center of.
