That Girl From Reedsport

That girl from Reedsport

Just as the morning mouths its
most perfect prayer
the girl from Reedsport rummages through
its universe of colors.
She tastes each one
as the street before her
flattens and curves into a prospect
of artistic whimsy.
She paints herself a pair of sandals
but walks barefoot.
Her father ran away
with a pair of beautiful twins.
Her mother remarried
before her father really left.
Even so, it must be painful to be unable
to long for what you cannot have.
She is looking for a puppy
trapped between the beach and highway
but there isn't one.
Like the puppy she can't tell anyone
about herself.
There are dozens of waves whispering
in her ears.
Shrugging her shoulders,
she puts their tongues in her pocket.
The girl from Reedsport kisses the sea
she makes promises to.
The sea is under constructed.
She dreams of a whale
but men throw harpoons at it.
She picks up an old shoe
and calls it her philosopher.
She sings a song to it
that ends with the word stars.


Scott Malby

Posted over on A Little Poetry