Diana Wiese

Cherish

I cut your hair today.

Those weren’t baby-curls anymore.

Enclosed in every curl 

Were months of play and 

Growing-up during this pandemic:

Curiosity that couldn’t explore freely, 

Agility held back, the longing

For friends and grandparents. 

And also, the endless hours 

We got to spent together, 

Soaking up every moment

Of undivided time.

I saved a curl and put it 

In my memory book that I started

Before you were born. I have filled it 

Every day with ordinary memories: 

Funny words you made up, 

Your ideas, inventions, role-plays, 

Our favorite songs. 

For one day I won’t remember 

What we used to do 

Every single day 

For months as it seemed 

So un-special then, so familiar. 

Yet, those are the things I cherish most.

Childhood 2020

If you made me wake up 

in the middle of the night 

to write down a recipe for a cake

that you were planning to make

the next day,

if you made me eat 

what your sticky fingers

conjured up with just a little help,

if I had to ride the waves 

of the sugar rush with you,

I would do it all over again-

to make memories 

of inhaling the aroma 

of a freshly baked cake 

floating through the house

in a childhood 

that smells of Protectol,

feels of cracked hands on soft cheeks,

disguised faces that cannot be read,

of singing solo,

virtual hugs,

and that’s missing the carefree playing 

with friends. 

Childhood 2020.

Instagram:@wiesentau