Goose

by Sasha Stern

saying i love you is overused,

try telling me you want to raise a goose.

i’ll hold it down

as you paint in its future, pure and bright.

we’ll let it feed on long grass,

and together on sunday mornings

we’ll make fresh bread with poppy seeds.

with the goose knowing nothing better,

we discuss the days of past laced with opium,

stirring our tea with fingers

instead of silver spoons, long lost in other nests.

later on in the afternoon, you resume painting

one of the many family portraits of you, me,

and the goose.

*

Sasha Stern attends Herricks High School in New Hyde Park, New York. When not writing, Sasha can be found rowing, fencing, playing the viola, or studying history and international relations.