And here is another by Melanie Rosin, a poem which has to do with the magical thinking of paper cranes.

***

Paper Cranes

I grew up hearing the legend
of the power of paper cranes,
that if you make a thousand for another,
a wish will be granted.

We set to work
the day after your diagnosis,
spending our breaks between classes
and nights in our room
after we finished our homework
making art out of origami.
We brought them in bags to your hospital room,
and instantly knew what our friend wanted—
to never admit defeat.

In your old room, the paper cranes
make a chandelier, strung together
and hanging from the ceiling.
When your father cracks the window
and the wind blows,
the cranes come to life
and dance about your bed,
and we can see the magic to the legend
that somehow lives on even when people cannot.

Now allow the cranes to grant another wish,
that of your family, which is to heal.
Mend their aching hearts.
Give them the peace they need to live on
even though you cannot.
It takes time to heal, can’t be achieved
in a matter of days,
but it gets slightly easier with the help of a chandelier
made out of a thousand paper cranes.

***

Melanie Rosin, a Houston native, is currently a J.D. candidate at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor. Her collection of poems, Four Feet from the Surface (Neo Literati Press), was published in 2011 and can be found on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. She plans on returning to Houston upon graduating law school this upcoming December.