there’s space between us in the real world, too,
I remember. three feet, it’s meant to be, a kick’s distance away, because
if anyone comes any closer you become too easy to grab.
now the amount has doubled, & I’m not sure
how much six feet is meant to be (I can’t measure it in kicks anymore)
so just: the height of the boy you sit next to in chemistry,
​ the wingspan of a great blue heron (I googled that it’s not
as if I know the wingspan of birds, but yesterday
I taught my brother what a robin is & on top of having a red stomach it’s also the state bird &
I studied it in third grade but I’d rather have studied
the mountain laurel [state flower] which kills you
if you burn it, or someone told me that once and
I never bothered to fact check them & maybe
I’ll make them my favorite flower, just after dandelions)
also it’s more fun to imagine that they really CAN kill you
& that half of our class almost died at Nature’s Classroom
when a girl nearly used a mountain laurel to roast
marshmallows, and left for New Jersey, (I think New Jersey,
​my memory keeps getting worse) and I miss her. really.