Maya Jurgens
Golden rays of sun crown the bluffs
along the bay, and illuminate stretching
fields of persimmon poppies that wave
their petals at seagulls soaring free above.
The waves below the cliffs reflect cascades
across the brilliant blue, like the twinkling in
my mother’s kind brown eyes when she first
brought me here to breathe the soft air. I
remember how my eyes soon found the birds
above, and as my little legs sailed through the
tall grass, I flew safe beneath their wings.
Now, birds still fly yet years have passed since
my mother’s laugh danced through the wind.
As I hold her scarf upon the cliff, and release
the silk into the breeze, I watch her fly into
the sky, letting her greet the birds — as she
once did for me.
The sun glows orange across the waves,
the poppy fields become infinite,
and in the seagull’s cries I hear her
voice still telling me, “run free!
Soak in the ocean breeze. Absorb the
sunlight’s crimson kiss – my daughter, this is life”
Maya Jurgens is a junior at Northwestern studying neuroscience and creative writing. She hopes to be the first surgeon to perform a procedure on another planet.
