For Alexandria, Amerie, Tess, Jose, Miranda, Maite, Makenna, Xavier, Eliana, Layla, Elihana, Alithia, Jackie, Annabelle, Jailah, Jayce, Uziyah, Nevaeh, and Rojelio 

Next to the pasture stands
a handful of blue-eyed grass
my son mowed around.
I counted nineteen blooms
and stopped.

Stars of fragile azure twirl
carefree in the wind
like we wish the children
were doing now—hair
catching the birds’ trills, toes
hugged by loving soil, clothes
trimmed with fourth-grade giggles.

The petal cups close
at dusk—far too soon.

Nancy K. Jentsch’s poetry has appeared recently in The Pine Cone Review, Scissortail Quarterly, and Verse-Virtual. Her chapbook, Authorized Visitors, was published in 2017 (Cherry Grove Collections) and Between the Rows, her first poetry collection, is forthcoming from Shanti Arts. More information is available on her website: https://jentsch8.wixsite.com/my-site.