“When the wind picks up, do you feel afraid or do you love change?”

Us children gathered restlessly in rings, nestling

Around solemn-eyed Ava, reading from a list of questions,

A personality quiz she’d stolen, maybe from her mother’s magazines,

But sparkling with additions that she must have made herself.

“Do you see ghosts flickering at twilight, or only empty space?”

With great deliberation, picking at my pigtails, I looked out

At all my peers, choosing the answers that would reveal

Our future soulmates. Was I a courageous person, a lover

Of change, a person who deserved tremendous company?

“Would you rather have gills and swim, or wings and fly?”

I whispered to Kayla-with-the-quick-grin, deciding

That what she chose I’d copy, that we’d match.

“Do you think of a response while someone is still talking or are you a violet?”