Photo by Joe St.Pierre

The coolest girl in school
had secret trysts behind the bike shed,
drank wine from a water bottle at mass,
hitched up her skirt to show her knobbly knees,
shaved her hair into a mohawk
and wore an insolent stare

Other girls lamented over
cracked lips and frizzy hair
but the coolest girl in school
was an old soul in a teen’s frame,
who gathered her flock to her
like a priest in church

She knew where she was headed
Her dreams were a riot of colour,
foreign places and people
the other girls had never heard of,
their envy too mortal an emotion
to weigh her down

Alien girl, happy chameleon,
who freely severed her ties
to those that birthed her
Mould breaker, marvel
Each breath propelled her
to her star-strewn fate