The one freckle

I used to stare out the one stained glass window in our house

and imagine what it would be like to have eyes glittered

with blue, red, and pink.

Hundreds of freckles appeared

on my cheeks every summer only to disappear in the fall.

So I would stare in the mirror and blink,

Hoping that the one freckle brave enough to make its way

from my cheek to my left eye would multiply

and change pigment.

Just for a moment.

It is not that I didn't love my grayish-green eyes

(that I seemed to get from my mother's side)

- the right one greener than the other.

I just wanted to know what it would be like .

Wondered if I would see things differently

if they were instead bright blue like my brother's.

Turns out you can't try on someone else's eyes

like trying on sunglasses in a store.

But that, I have learned, is the prize.

That freckle on my left eye reminds me - I am lucky

To see things differently than any person that isn't me.

I get to hear a new story - your story, their story, his story, her story -

when we get the chance to meet.