Centers

It is never advisable to

put the dinosaurs

in the pen

with the goats

I try explaining this to

Nora, her hazel eyes wide

dark hair streaming

shoes gleaming, equipped with flashing lights too

her small form contained

in a pink princess shirt

No! she says

They go in there!

I ponder T-Rex

he looks, well, he looks like

blue plastic

the Velociraptor is green

Sure, they appear

immobilized

but they’re not fooling me

“Run!” I say to the plastic goats

thinking I’ll take my index finger

knock down their fence

but Nora has turned into

the Dictator of Pre-K

ruling with an iron hand

of little pink painted nails

She quickly uprights

my failed gate to freedom

sentencing the goats

to the whims

of hungry carnivores

but I’m not having it

I pick my goat-loving feet up

and storm away

to infringe upon

a game of blocks

in another center.