Million Dollar Childhood
Loud mouths filled with
Annoying laughter
Cocoa Cola bottles amongst
A sea of scattered Bingo cards
A pile of pesos mixed with
Dollar bills
And crumpled Monopoly money
Sit mounted in the tables center
Who will win won’t matter
Because this
Is wealth
Endless trays of lumpia and
Adobo fried rice
Chaos of kids raising kids
Running screaming dancing
Laughing crying hiding in corners
Time to play hide and seek
Turn off the lights
Sleepovers and scary movies
Popcorn crumbs and timeless
Elementary pranks
Waking up Christmas morning
Seeing dad wrap presents from Dollar Tree
And quietly sneak them underneath
Our donated tree
Name-calling and bullying
No take backs
And pillow forts destroyed
Random people and friends
Sleeping and spilling on floors because
Bunk beds couldn’t hold
Everyone
Late night trips to Denny’s
With the five dollars Grandma gave me
Roller blades around the block
7 hour beach walks
Because Dad said it was free
Countless hours spent at Chuck E. Cheese
Searching for tokens
Underneath machines
What wealth this brought,
What wealth!
I thought
Saturday morning cartoons
With leftover Thanksgiving
White people food
Hand me downs and
Made-up Halloween costume gowns
Throw a sheet over your body
And poke holes through for the eyes
Heavy pillow cases filled with
Candy followed by fillings for
Cavities that Dad couldn’t afford
This year I’ll be a ghost again
Mahalo
Take off your shoes
But good luck finding them
Amongst the mountain of
Slippers big and small
Old tennis shoes not used for tennis
Strangers shoes forgotten
Sit sadly on the steps chained to cobwebs
Hurry up and shut the door
So the flies don’t run in and the
Dogs wont fly out
Don’t ask about the dead
Dalmatian that Dad found in
His doghouse
His eyes hollow crawling with ants
Or about one of our ducks that
Died from a broken heart
Because our other dog ate his
Friend for breakfast
Ask me about the birds we kept
In the living room next to the window
The ones who sang loud and
Obnoxiously
Waiting to be freed
Waiting to be fed
Waiting...
Ask me about summer nights
Sweaty backs pressed on the
Cold driveway
Marinating among stars
Day dreaming while we listen to
Dad sing
Ask me about weekly trips to
The casino
Staring at the mountains
Fingers crossed waiting for
Mom to win
But whether she wins or not won’t matter
Because this
Is wealth
Maria Jungers (she/her/hers) is a Senior studying Literature and Writing at California State University San Marcos. She is the Founder and Editor of In Her Space Journal, a literary journal dedicated to uplifting the underrepresented voices of women. Maria plans to continue working on her journal after she graduates and hold workshops that help other writers succeed creatively. She believes that the process of feedback and reading each other’s work is what truly makes a good writer. In her free time, she enjoys teaching yoga, going on hikes by the beach, and long road trips.