4.1.14

And so it begins...I am again doing a photo project in conjunction with my poetry project in April, so enjoy the visual images that accompanies each poem this month too!  Sometimes the poem will be inspired by the photo, sometimes it will be the other way around, and sometimes the connection will be more subtle (at least that's how it was last year).

All right, so without further ado, here's my first poem!  My prompt word for today was "fool."  Appropriate for any number of reasons...

Fool’s  Journey

How many curbs must I trip over , looking for the stars—
how many shadows shall I wander into, confusing
moonlight with city light?  I am cocky with the sureness
of the idiot, the gutters flowing with plans,
the street dropping off into sparkling night air. 

We sing as we walk, not watching our feet, not watching
the sharp-toothed details that nip at our ankles.  Our high heels click

along the sidewalk like chariots.  We throw rose petals

over our footprints, delighted to lose ourselves
in neon nights, whiskeyswirl, the fuzzy joy of
alley shadows in July, the spin of headlights
across our summer skirts. The stars are swallowed
in neon moonlight, their guidebook hidden.  We stumble
along, stitching mistakes together as we go.  

The nights grow darker and colder.  My pack grows heavier,

swinging against by back.  Far from the city, I stop

to build a fire.  You don't understand

it is neither good nor bad, it just is: the stumbling,
the petals drying and flying away,
the way of things as our stories are written.