BLOWING A KISS TO MY SISTER
My hand went up to my eyes
getting wide as I laid a soft kiss
on the palm of my hand.
I lowered my hand, forming a 90 degree angle,
and then supporting it on my bony chin
I watched my sister do the same,
revealing her beaming face.
As we blew our flower petal
kisses off our hands,
prepared to catch each other’s,
and gobble up the comfort wrapped within them,
the sting of wetness welled up in my eyes.
A dark storm cloud hovered over me,
giving me the unwanted worry of her safety
overseas in Uganda.
The loneliness of the cloud
gave me the thought
that this would be my last way to connect with her
for what would feel like the time it takes
to travel the whole world.
—from 2014 Rattle Young Poets Anthology
__________
Why do you like to write poetry?
Courtlyn Helder: “Writing has always been one of my strengths, so when I discovered poetry, I was opened up to a whole new world. I like this world because you write in a unique way. You get to use words to describe things in different and unusual ways.”
