We toast
me
Dad
April
Mom
with Geneva cookies,
ginger ale,
custard apple.
Celebrate my acceptances to
Kenyon
Dickinson
(wait-listed at Bowdoin).
A year ago
I would’ve been devastated by a wait list,
but not now,
only joy.
Grace even put in a note,
she saw a meteor shower,
hopes I choose Dickinson.
We celebrate with a game,
the four of us, a family.
Chinese checkers:
April’s green.
Mom, red.
I choose blue.
Dad, white.
The board, a star.
None of us say much during the game,
marching pieces from our individual sides,
but for a while
we are all jumbled up,
jumping over each other to get to new spots,
until we settle back in
rearranged but connected.