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the boss of you
by Erica Gerald Mason

and at the end of a long day
not an awful day
but a busy day
the kind of day where we eat too much ice cream
and laugh too hard
and maybe play a little too hard
and it’s time to leave
but we’re too tired to walk
even one scrawny step
i scoop you up
and we sit on a statue of an animal
maybe a deer or a lion or maybe even a bear
and i say i’m the boss of you
and the statue turns into a real animal
and it lets us ride on its back
to the car
to our house
even all the way to the middle of the moon
if we ask nicely
and say please and thank you.

PHOTO: The author (left) and her sister at Holiday World theme park (Santa Claus, Indiana, 1981).

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:  I like to walk, but only up to a point. This is the superpower of my dreams.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Erica Gerald Mason has been called “the most practical dreamer you ever did see.” She is the author of a two books of poetry and the prose collections Meet Me In The Mixtape, and The Lovely, among other books. She also has edited five anthologies, including Wanton, One Tough Cookie, Star-Crossed Lovers, and Dinners, Parties & Shindigs. Her poetry has been published or forthcoming in The Found Poetry Review, The Borfski Press, and The NonBinary Review. Her poem,”Night Sky” was a featured work in 2016 Sundance Film Festival Indie Lounge. She blogs at ericageraldmason.com.