Marshmallow Grass
If only I could draw,
I’d redraw the world:
Mountains floating in the sky,
Grass like marshmallow—
Soft enough to sleep on,
Sweet enough to try.
If only I could draw,
I’d redraw the zoo:
Short-necked giraffes
And lions that MOO.
I’d flip the whole world
Upside down and inside out—
The tall things small,
The quiet things SHOUT.
But even if I could draw,
I would not redraw you.
My upside-down, my inside-out,
My backwards-and-still-true—
That’s what draws me to you.
I’d redraw the world:
Mountains floating in the sky,
Grass like marshmallow—
Soft enough to sleep on,
Sweet enough to try.
If only I could draw,
I’d redraw the zoo:
Short-necked giraffes
And lions that MOO.
I’d flip the whole world
Upside down and inside out—
The tall things small,
The quiet things SHOUT.
But even if I could draw,
I would not redraw you.
My upside-down, my inside-out,
My backwards-and-still-true—
That’s what draws me to you.
This poem is copyright (©) Mantha SL 2026
About the Writer
Mantha SL
Mantha SL is the pen name of Samantha Liistro, a designer who spends her days making homes and her evenings writing poems about finding them. Her poems arrive almost faster than she can write them down, and every one is tested out loud on friends and family before it is allowed to stay. These are her first published poems from a linked collection called Six Left Turns: Poems for Finding Your Way Home.
