Eleven

A shock of cardinal rain ran

down my leg. I thought it came

from a cut I might have made

on my pre-teen flesh,

but the only pinch came scratching

from my insides crying, “I have waited

for this day since your mother learned

it would come from her ultrasound.”

I stepped out of the shower

onto the green foam mat, noticed

my embarrassing shoe size

and the stain of womanhood imprinted

before I had a chance to understand or want it.