Checkmate

I don’t want my life to fit in a little box, to bend,

to mold, to be a certain shape. I want to lean my head back

and take in the sky and all its colors.

I want to stick out my tongue and lick the fresh rain.

I want to squish my toes into dirt and lay

in the green grass and close my eyes.

I don’t want to follow rules,

but make my own, soaking

up this earth and all the sunshine.

                                     — Marisa Donnelly, Somewhere on a Highway