Folded Promise

She wears rainbows in her almond curls and paints her eyelids with green swirls. Her cheeks blush with innocent pearls Soft as her favourite fruit- strawberries. Mascara wand in her fingers casts spells on me her gaze a flicker between play and mystery. She tangles the bedsheets, Spills glitter on pillows, pouts for the mirror, practices smiles and chuckles All a rehearsal for the girl she will never be. Because Her cradle is still folded like a promise, she borrows makeup from bags I never packed. she wears outfits I never choose, She twirls in mirrors I never hung. She is my daughter in dreams. and in dreams they grow like moonlight.