She sat upon a throne
of purple, pink, and yellow flowers
that her mother had planted
just a week before.

From her shoulder blades
sprouted two glittering, silvery wings
with the straps that the box
had advertised as “nearly invisible”

Her dress was blue, like the sky
on a cloud free day
though it had brown smudges
from where she had played in the dirt

The tiara she had gotten for Christmas
lay lopsided upon her mass of red curls
but still shone bright silver
in the sunlight that fell onto her face.

In her four-year-old hands
she held an old dandelion
and her cheeks were puffed out
as she tried to blow the seeds away.

Years later,
she realized her mother had taken
the photograph at just the right angle
to see light that used to dance
in her clear blue eyes