Amanda Lovelace

for the boy who lived.

thank you for inspiring me to be

the girl who survived.

you may have

a lightning bolt

to show for it,

but my body is a

lightning storm.

ah, life—

the thing

that happens

to us

while we’re off

somewhere else

blowing on

dandelions

& wishing

ourselves into

the pages of

our favorite

fairy tales.

i hoped my books

would spill their exquisite words

over the lush green carpet

so i could collect them one by one

& savor them like

berries inside my mouth.

- forever a collector of words.