girl wakes up in the half
place after night before
dawn
tattoos her dreams onto the soles of her feet
in strange glowing ink
careless hasty sketches leaving
odd fantastic pools of light and color
shining from every
footstep
that will wash away
with the first touch of dew

but it does not matter
her footsteps are only the places she has
already been and
when they glow she does not look
back to see them

they are the same imaginations of
her mothers and grandmothers
unlasting
bright and
hummingbird hued but
all the more easily discarded
forgotten like too-small shoes
passed down as heirlooms from
the women to the thoughtlessly
dreaming child
soon gathering dust in some closet corner

it does not matter oh
it does not matter
when the day comes and the
ghostly halfconscious pictures evaporate with the
first chiding touch of the sun
it does not matter
she is only
coloring
inside the lines

this hasty dreamer
girl still thinks nighttimes are things to be disposed of
and copied dreams are beautiful enough
this careless one