CAMAS

Smoke Bombs

Volume XXIII | 2023 Lacroute Prize Finalist

By

Sarah Reynolds

It's me. A PlayMobil pirate
Resting on my ship in the corner of the harbor
In Ocean Park. The 260s.
Below deck, I cup my ear desperately,
Trying to hear the girls upstairs in the unfinished attic room.
They are teaching each other
How to do jumping crane karate kicks
In their bare feet

There are thwacks as the red-and-white buoy swings wildly
From its anchor in the ceiling.
I think they are ready now

To watch the blue smoke bomb on the street
Fizzle and fade too quickly.
Perhaps the purple will last longer