# Steps to Freedom
**by Elizabeth Marrero**

On the stairs next to the yellow kitchen
I concentrate on laces that will intertwine
as soon as I learn how to move my hands
properly

I watch my mother
pinch the laces between her fingers
loop one over the other
pull the ends tight in an X
hold pressure on the tops of my feet

make one bunny ear
then another
wrap them around
hug them in tight to each other
pull them into a bow

As soon as I learn
I won’t have to wait
to run outside to play
in the green grass