Amy Shimshon-Santo: My Satchel of Girlhood
hopscotch
I turned back the clock
to long before yesterday
revisited the archeology
of bunny looped laces
back when my mouth
wished for whistle-ability
and hands grasped fat lead pencils
longing for the capacity
to spell an entire word
when a shout and a round red rubber ball
tossed in the air
could summon a herd of children
to play, back when being
mermaids was a real game
the magic of spit could melt
a hard chunk of color
pink bazooka, into a hollow orb
to click and pop with lips and tongue and breath
I shook a lager in my cupped hand
tossed it out across the rough pavement
my feet danced hopscotch ascension to 10
right, right,
double, right,
right, double, right
I spun around at the top
determined to return
to one
leapt off
the last square
landed back
where I started
I unwrapped
my satchel of girlhood
string, tape, old ribbon,
hand-written notes
I want everyone to know
that I have forgiven the sidewalks
for all of their cracks
I was a girl
and then a mother
each of my 37.2 trillion cells
are breathing. I am
learning
to embrace
the success
of this moment
by singing
an anthem
to now
Amy Shimshon-Santo is a writer and educator who believes the arts and culture are powerful tools for personal and social transformation. Her interdisciplinary work spans creative writing, choreography, performance, education, and urban planning. She is a poly-lingual (English, Spanish, Portuguese) who writes across genres — poetry, creative non-fiction, and social/cultural criticism. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize in creative non-fiction (2017), Best of the Net in poetry (2018), and been recognized on the National Honor Roll for Service Learning. Her writing has been published by SAGE Publications, UC Press, SUNY Press, Public!: A Journal of Imagining America, Teaching Artist Journal, Tiferet Journal, Zocalo Public Square, Critical Planning Journal, Lady Liberty Lit, and Spectrum. Her performances have been presented at the Kennedy Center for the Arts and throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Amy currently is Head of the Arts Management for Sotheby’s Institute of Art at Claremont Graduate University. Prior to this role, she taught at UCLA and she directed the UCLA Arts’ ArtsBridge Program. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in urban planning (UCLA), an M.F.A. in creative writing (Antioch University), and a B.A. in Latin American Studies (UC Santa Cruz).
