All perfect moments of childhood

lay between picking a fresh yellow

box of Lego, its corners still sharp

& getting it home to rip it open and

spill its crinkly bags on the stairs.

The perfect moments were all set

in the shadowy backdrop of space

or medieval forest behind the clean

picture of the model in my hands,

the horizon a neon grid of stars or

undulating realms of hills, hiding

spaces of forest bandits and good

-hearted pirates sheltered in palms,

where I could be girl or boy or just

a smile behind a neon green visor.

Opening the box with soft greed

& unwashed little fingers was always

inevitable, of course, but it dis-

spelled those moments of vastness

& all universes of what could be

and all the beings I could contain.



Rick Hollon (they/them or fey/fem) is a nonbinary, intersex writer from the American Midwest. Feir work has appeared or is forthcoming in Daily Drunk’s WICKERPEDIA anthology, Delicate Friend, Whale Road Review, and other small-press publications. Find them on Twitter at SailorTheia.