By Samantha Malay

two boys and a middle girl 
the Miranda kids
knew motorbikes 
BB guns and cigarettes
french fries 
and pocket change

cooked spaghetti
danced the hustle
tan toes poking through sneaker canvas 
hair clumped and streaky 
from pond-swimming days

white teeth 
dirty jokes 
serial killer stories
told in sleeping bags
mosquito song 
in silky night

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Samantha Malay‘s work recently appeared in TINGE Magazine, In Parentheses, and SHARK REEF, and will soon be published by Kind Writers and Five South. She was born in Berlin, Germany, grew up in rural northeastern Washington State, and graduated from Seattle University’s sociology program. A theatrical wardrobe technician by trade, she is also a mixed-media artist and poetry editor in residence at Flying Ketchup Press. Her published words can be found here.