In My Back Pocket 

By Manisha Persaud

 

Oh tiny bear,

How did you get here?

With your green velvet fur and barbie tinted cheeks

you fit comfortably in my back pocket,

waving your hands out in mock oration

with that ridiculous smile you often wear

to make me laugh

like we’ve been best friends

for a thousand lifetimes.

 

One day I’ll be ruler of the world, you say.

You, my precious tiny bear!

Soft like a bruised caramel plum

with your heart worn on your sleeve only to me,

but to the rest of the world,

a steel tongued chipped seashell

a rogue introverted extrovert.

 

Still, I believe you.

 

I love our daily adventures

driving eighty to the future,

lifetimes together spent in ten minutes.

Tiny bears that live forever in the leaves of the coleus plant,

dancing in its red and green veins.

 

Tiny bears that live forever in each other’s back pockets.

 

 

Manisha’s Bio: 

Manisha Persaud is a student in the SAS Honors Program and the Douglass Residential Women’s College from Jersey City. She plans on majoring in genetics and minoring in public health in hopes of getting her MD and MPH to give back to her community. 

Manisha wrote this poem in Joanna Fuhrman’s Intro to Creative Writing course during the spring 2020 semester.  Fuhrman selected the piece as a WHR featured poem.