Shadows on the Wall

At night,
The shadows on the wall 
Spoke to me
They said
I would have 
Superpowers
“Does this have anything
To do with God
Or is it magic?
I decided --
Keep up my prayers,
Put magic to sleep.

I picked up the pace
And those shadows on the wall
Were my shapely 
Teenage legs
Practicing moves
For a boy toy,
The desire for boys 
Began early
Hormones raging
Roaming
Curiosity
Tradition
But I kept up my prayers,
Put magic to sleep.

Anyone was welcome
In my life
I never noticed
Race
Sex
Religion
Except to ask curious questions, 
Like…
What do Jews believe?
How do you wash your hair?
Or I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.
But I kept up my prayers,
Put magic to sleep.

This was my bubble,
A child’s bubble,
And most child bubbles
Turn into adult bubbles,
But…
The magic came back
One day
And my bubble popped!
I was most fully awake!

The people who are praying
Who put magic to sleep
Live protected lives,
Knowing a State of the World
Wedged between picnic sandwiches 
And bloody biased news.

This child grew up to protect those lives,
Shapely legs and all,
Because the truth is
The world is a balance of light
And dark
And the dark penetrates all around.

The child of three layer bangs
Crusted with hairspray
A champion of
Backstroke, Butterfly, and long-distance Freestyle
Straight A’s nearly every time
She wore laughter, rebellious attitudes, shyness
On her forehead,
That child’s world was protected
The magic in her life was put to sleep,
But she kept praying,
Ends up,
She prayed often for her bubble to break.