Sarah Forner – John Carroll University 

You, maker of Magic Marker Masterpieces,
Made beige hallways and the heirloom white piano
Canvas for your distorted doodles.

In the prized robin’s egg Cinderella uniform
Stained with the syrup of banana pancakes,
You spoke in syntactical butchering of words –
Pasghetti, bashick, brapes, hossdable.
To this day, echoes of your eternal creations
Hum in the home on Parkview Boulevard.

You, speaker of spectrums, drew
Divides amongst blues and greens.
Proudly right in your turquoise shorts,
Offering eggs-over-easy and mango fruits.

You looked perfect there with your
Sleepless arms, widow’s peak, faint freckles,
Charm bracelet, and berry chapstick,
Kissing calls to our panting dog.

You, worshiper of the sun, stretched
In the glowing summer, blowing
Wishes on wilted dandelions.
Iridescent rays of sun brushed your
Carefully crafted curls. It was
So beautiful, the way your
Crisped cheeks morphed into whispers
Of the promises and secrets of sisters.

Somewhere between giving salutations
To the sun and jarring lightning bugs,
You crawled out into a little woman.

Sarah Forner is a Junior English major at John Carroll University (JCU) in University Heights, Ohio. She strives to create poems that awaken the senses and touch the heart. In much of her writing, she meditates on the theme of the movement from innocence to experience. Upon graduation, she plans to work toward a PhD, and teach English at the college level. In her time, Sarah also hopes to publish a collection of her poems. “For Emma, Forever Ago” is inspired by, and dedicated to, her younger sister and very best friend, Emma.