A little girl, her mauve dress
trailed out behind her like a comet's tail,
sits on the curb.
Bandaids on her nose and knees
(the type with cartoon characters).
Freckles sprinkle her skin
like the stars dot the skies,
and lilac bows push back her hair
to reveal sable eyes, inquisitive.
Sticky fingers spin a nickel,
as her muddy boots tap a beat to mark the time;
chalk pieces rest at her feet,
Saturn's rings and our little green home on the street.
She waits in the dark, noiseless like the void of space,
for a meteor shower to illuminate her chalk solar system.