Look Up, (and Don’t Blush)

With a poem in her head, and a camera in her hand, Tina Howard went searching. The inspiration she found came from looking up.

Now, don’t blush, but here’s a poem of mine that decides to take advantage of a different perspective too, a looking up…

The Coming

Muse needed,
I hung the sign at the top of my door.

Meantime, you’d been passing by every morning,
checking out the way spearmint gum
looked different from bubblegum
when pressed to the sidewalk
by Italian leather, white rubber, dragon heels.

Once, I think without either of us realizing,
you looked up my skirt

(it was my fault, really, for getting back
on the step-ladder to fiddle with the flat head
of the nail I’d placed the chain upon, and really
you did it without thinking—but maybe
a lack of thought makes it your fault).

What happened next
cannot be explained except perhaps
by a directional taboo (you must ask Genji)
that turned you away from the bubblegum
and led you straight through my front door,
sign banging behind you. You came to me
in a great rush—no pretense, no pride—
and have been, ever since, unfastening
and opening my skirt.

How about you? Could you find a poem by looking up? If so, post your link on our Facebook Wall by Wednesday, November 16th, for links and possible feature here, at The High Calling, or at Every Day Poems.

News Whip photo, by Claire Burge. Used with permission. Post by L.L. Barkat. Visit L.L. at Seedlings in Stone, for more on writing, poetry, art and life.

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