Pickle Juice FIsh Dreams

I promise

That every time you look up at the sun, it’ll shine a little  brighter

That each blade of grass is cheering for you as you walk down the side of an empty road carrying nothing but the wind in the back pocket of your favorite jeans

I promise that trees will tell you more than your best friend

Lightning bugs glow brighter in the dark

And scars are just post-it-notes reminding you to tell that story about the time that you went fishing

And the sky was your preschool watercolor canvas

Your fingers tracing dreams and grazing stars

I promise that no matter what a hug will always take away the pain

Teddy bears will always listen

And a hot cup of coffee will always forgive you for that crooked jigsaw smile that your Daddy loved

A pencil and paper will soak up your heart, though I don’t recommend lined paper because the objective is to stay in the lines

So I promise I’ll always be there to hand you a piece of chalk

But when you’re done, don’t be afraid of the rain

I promise that your heart will always remember, but your mind is often forgetful

And I promise I’ll never let you forget who you are

But I won’t even have to remind you because you’ve already set your alarm for today

And today is when you find yourself, walking on sunshine

I promise I’ll only let you fall if it’s in love

Only let you leave if it’s to travel the world

Only let you drown if it’s in a good book

I promise that the loudest place on earth will be in that graveyard

And when you think you’re done listening

When you just want to cry

You’ll find comfort right there under her tree

Even though she hasn’t hung there in years

And it makes you wonder

Makes you hope

That the noose hugged her tight

Kissed her neck

And whispered “I love you”

So then I guess I’ll have to promise that the hurt will always hurt

The sad will always be sad

But the happy, the happy will always be happy

And no matter how high you raise your chin, sometimes it will snow

But if you just stick out your tongue

And catch it

It’ll taste like love

And fear

Because there’s no love you’ll know that won’t be frightening

But it’ll trump every wildflower that sprouted form the cracks of the sidewalk in front of your childhood home

And it’s blue

Roll the Polaroid camera

Black white flashes of innocent laughter and barefoot adventures

I promise that as you grow, you’ll never get tired of climbing trees

Or catching fireflies in a pickle jar after you’ve drunken the juice with your kid neighbor Molly and gotten sick in the raspberry bushes of the cat lady’s garden

I promise that swing sets will launch you to the moon

The pebbles at the end of your driveway will glitter brighter than diamonds

And love poems will only get your heart halfway there

And I promise, when you’re dying, in that cold hospital bed

That when your mind drifts back to those woods

And that boy

You’ll get the faint smell of pickle juice fish dreams

And blue house moons

 

Reviews

[Hannah Paige]

i'm pretty sure i remember when you wrote this.. it's SO good. the atmosphere and the language and the imagery work perfectly and even though it kind of has a bitter sweet feel at parts, it makes me happy to read it. i think this poem is really hopeful, and i like that.

[paradoxical]

I agree, it's bittersweet and hopeful at the same time. This is probably my favorite poem that I have read in a long time. Simply amazing.