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NO STRINGS ATTACHED
Julie Larios

If I were a kite
with no strings to hold me,
I 'd let the wind take me –
I'd let the crows scold me,
I'd float through the sky
with the sun on my shoulders.
The clouds would all bite
at my ears. I'd be bolder
than bold, I’d dance, I'd go soaring—
a life in the sky could never be boring.

I'd fly over houses then over the tops
of skyscraping buildings
but I wouldn't stop there, I'd sail over sailboats
and islands
and oceans.
I’d drive the world loco with my locomotion.

Diving and squawking,
The seagulls would show me the migrating whales
as they spouted below me.
Over Kansas and Kashmir,
the hot sands of Cairo,
Mt. Fuji, Mt. Everest –
higher and higher—
wheatfields would wave to me,
deserts would sigh.
Icebergs would stare as I rose in the sky.

The sun would be one friend,
the bright moon another.
And what would the stars be
but sisters and brothers?

I'd know all the secrets the sky's never told me
if I were a wild kite
with no strings to hold me.