Little Girl Dares



Behind closed-doors of bedrooms,
we practiced our magic --
sewing our fingers together with
bright needle and thread --
piñata pink, purple, blue, yellow, red.
The trick was not to go
too deep
to nip the top layers of skin
and pull the single strand slow,
slow like a tickle,
slow like a moth's legs
under your skin.
And when we were done,
our hands were nests,
vessels of tingling heat
until we tore at the thread
with a vengeance
and reveled in our
temporary scars.


c2005 Terri Light