I Think I’ll Take a Walk~ I

A Day So Sunny
April 10, 2005

A day so sunny,
it almost works against me,
sitting on my porch
in clothes too heavy
for the unpredictable weather
of Kentucky’s early spring.

I’ve always said
I’d rather burn than freeze-
you can take the girl out of Texas,
but you can’t replace
her southwestern blood..
And something about Dante’s hell
still haunts me.

Even so,
I remove my sweater
as the Hispanic boy
from a few doors down
rides by on his bike.

He reminds me of home,
and how much I miss diversity.
There was a time and a place,
when I couldn’t have told you
the color of the boy’s skin;
I wouldn’t have noticed.

It’s ironic-
I often feel
conspicuously inconspicuous
in this stiflingly homogenous little town,
with bells chiming the half hour,
a church on every corner,
and overwhelmingly white,
most often upper middle class students
passing their time
in meaningless chatter
about the ontological argument
for the existence of God.

It never did make sense to me,
that argument;
and finally, I don’t care.

What need is there in this moment
for useless human philosophies,
when the view from my
too, too sunny porch
yields pink hyacinths,
imperfect in form, yet thriving;
lush, green growth of daylillies,
patiently awaiting their season;
traces of new life
sprouting from old growth-
perennials which seemed all but dead
a month ago?

I see my self in this tiny plot,
one or two feet deep by four wide;
a glorious proof of spring’s
unexpected victory;
herald of the woe of winter;
Life defying icy Death.

The day is so sunny,
it almost works against me,
reflecting off the page into my
young and weary eyes;
too much light to comprehend..

And yet,

I think I’ll take a walk.