growing

Where I Come From

Sally Fisher

We didn’t say fireflies

but lightning bugs.

We didn’t say carousel

but merry-go-round.

Not seesaw,

teeter-totter.

Not lollipop,

sucker.

We didn’t say pasta, but

spaghetti, macaroni, noodles:

the three kinds.

We didn’t get angry;

we got mad.

And we never felt depressed

dismayed, disappointed

disheartened, discouraged

disillusioned or anything,

even unhappy:

just sad.