When I was four, I was obsessed with fairies

I wanted to be magical and have the power

To turn other people’s tears into laughter

And give people wings

I would tote my fairy spell book into a forest

And plop myself under a tree

Then peruse my tome of magic for a spell of the day

That day it was a rain spell

So I gathered water and daisies

And stirred them inside a cup

Muttering an incantation to the rain fairies

I kept checking the weather forecast

And was pleased as it began to drizzle

Then rather alarmed when on the news

I saw a tornado warning

To this day, I still believe in that spell

It was in middle school that I realized I had lost my power

When the other kids disconnected

As they started trying to be cool

And I felt lost because that didn’t matter to me

It probably didn’t help that we were all sheltering in place

So there was no one with whom I could brew rain spells

It was not until ninth grade that I started writing my story

Of the girl who loved fairies but then gave up her wings

That I realized

That little girl who caused a tornado

Still swirls inside me

Waiting for me to cast a spell on myself

To tell myself a different story

So a girl with wings could be born

I was four, I was obsessed with fairies