Student Publishing Program ::

Catherine Z.

Sunshine

She was a rain-soaked, ragged little princess that came stumbling in
under the dark and lonely train stop’s plastic shelter.
She shook out the glittering silver from her golden hair,
Her round face, chilled from wetness, must have come from crayons and cupcakes.

When she caught me looking, she declared that she was running away!
Running away from her evil mother and father
who liked her little baby brother so much better than her.
She had come through the pouring rain, forty minutes and one kilometer of it,
along the bike paths and the forest bends and the cold air,
all with only her little purple backpack and yellow rain slicker.

She was going to ride the train to her favorite auntie’s house, she explained,
and seeing my look, proudly poured sixteen dollars and forty-five cents’ worth
of carefully saved crumpled bills and silvery coins out across her lap,
plus the three pennies she found in her coat pocket.

And once she was there, she and auntie would have fun together,
playing on the beaches and picking berries and having picnics everyday –
And I smiled and patted her on the head, and decided
Not to tell her that the rain would continue.

[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2011 EDITION]