The Heather Girl
Alexis Wright
Her eyes are suns, and her ears
A flower each. But her mouth,
She has trouble finding it.
Lost in a sea of voices
She has none, nor does she
Desire to be heard above the noise.
She paints herself heather
For it is a quiet color,
One that doesn’t speak unless
Spoken to. But she dances,
Oh she dances, as if silence
Is her most favorite song.
Eyes ablaze and rosy lips spread wide
She reaches for joy, tip-toed, as if plucking
Stars from the sky. Perhaps,
It is not another voice
That the world so desperately needs
But a smile soft, sweet, and powerful,
Like rain on a summer day.