Backyard Revisited Poem by Hannah DeMarco

You'd forgotten how good this
Trampoline felt when
Your feet slide and
Toenails scratch on
The hot black stuff and

Your weight forgets itself as
Your body bounces, small
Little bounces -
Hiccups that you didn't even
Mean to make.

Concave hot black stuff
Contracts then
Concave again then
Contracts then -

As feet make
Little bounces
Little hiccups, and
Bigger bounces
Bigger hiccups until

-Feet suspended halfway
Between blue and green,
Tiny gasps of
Delight and of
Mourning escape and-

You don't even
Notice the
Hot black stuff and
On it the
White freckles the
Birds left behind.