Day One, Poem #1 - Agave

Agave

NaPoWriMo #1 – shuffle a poem

If I kept a diary,

like a lonesome schoolgirl,

I might write

‘Friday – I’m in love with the

boy from down the road.’

But not because he is faithful, shooter

of midnight firecrackers,

of stolen guns ,

or that I see him

slipping back from windows

like curtains in the hot breeze, or

in church rolling the prayer off his tongue

with sounds

as full as

olives

bouncing in the jar.

But more because he waits

at the roadside,

a sombre reptile,

watching the hours pass

on the highway, kind enough

not to flinch in the

swirls of sand,

and lets me dance in his shadow

as it stretches to the East

to touch the rising night.

From the song titles “Faithful Shooter” by Richard Buckner, “Friday, I’m In Love” by The Cure, “Highway Kind” by Townes Van Zandt, “The Prayer” by Bloc Party and “Sombre Reptile” by Brian Eno