The wet wool smells like first grade,
walking to school with my milk money
jangling in the tips of my mittens.
We lived in a different house then
a smaller house
Mom worked at the jewelry counter
and was home after school
Dad had a nicer boss
and talked about buying a boat
I believed in Santa Claus
The wind stirs the branches
My heart starts to
clang and the scarf
twists right around
my neck.
-Laurie Halse Anderson
