Color

It’s the color that sticks with me
keeping space in my heart
stained like pavement
under paper flowers in the rain

Free

God is a sculptor
and his master works are free
no admission, on display
for us permanently

Sentinels

Stewards of the sandy earth
dare fragility
bearing sun, wind, snow and us
guarding eternity

Bar balance

Five blondes with starter waddles illuminated
by the pale blue of smartphones
eating nachos they will pay someone
to vacuum off their thighs later
don’t tip the native
with the silkvelvet voice
and complicated guitar lilts in the corner
who doesn’t make in a year
what they’ve collectively spent on shoes
in that same span of time
Yet everyone acts as if this is normal
and it is

Painted windows

There are still places full of craftspeople
untainted by efficiency
unconcerned with perfection
uninterested in regularity
painting windows into murals of vignettes
just for the joy of it

Strut

Roosters own this town
all plumes and puffed chests
bright colors under suspicious eyes

Seeps

When I see a scene
that I know will be a painting
it crawls inside my brain
and waits behind my eyes
and seeps down through my chest
until it creeps into my fingertips

Narnia

Crystal doorknobs beckon
winking mysteries in the low light
sending friend requests from wonder
behind closet doors tonight

Marketing

I stood admiring the pink-red trees

when an ugly suspicion arose inside of me

that they released the Lorax specifically

during the brief similar color blooming

as some kind of free subliminal branding

and I heaved a sad sigh to think

how tainted my mind is with marketing

Glacially

People don’t say things move at a glacial pace anymore
since their faces starting melting off the shores
and though every now and then I say a prayer
for the dying polar bears
I always change the charity commercial to stop from crying