They lay in the shade together
Side by side
Small bodies nestled where the bamboo grows wide
"Do you ever wonder," the leader inquires.
"What it would be like to grow?"
The three share glances,
each one wondering.
"I've had this body for three hundred years."
The oldest replies, "It's a blessing and a curse."
The youngest tilts her feathered head,
glowing like a jewel.
"My ancestors sunk ships - I'm named after them.
Sometimes I wonder what they'd think of me."
The leader rubs her freckled face and sighs.
"All that I am is because of this body. I wonder..."
The oldest was an assassin, the youngest a ship-sinker,
They all followed the leader.
A vampire, a seamonster and a mob boss all sat in the shadows,
under a tree
And they wonder
What growing might be like.