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from Remember the Flowers
Winner (Poetry) of the 2021 Stone Soup Book Contest

One day she came to school
clutching a long black curtain rod,
leaning against it like a cane,
looking like a wounded soldier.
Her foot was injured—
that was all.
Hurt in a fall from a towering
step stool.
We sat on the red-brick wall
by the playground,
wondering what on earth we could play.

Recess faded away from our minds
as the rusty red wall
became a canoe.
Hand in hand we rowed our boat,
dragging the hollow curtain rod
through our sea of wood chips.
The game went on all recess.
We visited Italy, Spain, and Korea.
Two days later I climbed a yellow step stool.
Longing to be like her, I mimed a fall
and begged my mother ardently
for a metal curtain rod.


Remember the Flowers was released on September 1, 2022.
You can order the book at Barnes & Noble or through our Amazon store: Amazon.com/stonesoup.