june writing challenge day 24

mulberry tree

today i eat berries from a mulberry tree.

they paint the floor with black splotches.

i've stopped in scattered tracks, and am staring at my reflection in the branches.

today i am five, 

i am outside olivia's house

my mom and i are picking berries from a mulberry tree.

olivia will teach me to swim, but i'm learning how delicious it is to eat mulberries with my mom.

i smile at olivia with teeth painted by black splotches.

today i am twenty,

i've moved into a new apartment during a pandemic.

theres a mulberry tree next to my apartment door,

and each time i step into the quarantined world,

the bottom of my shoes contract black splotches that stain my steps.

the mulberry tree will be cut down soon.

today, i am reflected in branches.

and i am five,

and i am twenty,

and i see the floor painted with familiar black splotches,

so i am eating berries from a mulberry tree.