by Carla M. Cherry
tonight I walk without shoes
moonlight, my guide
grass tickling soles
bathed in dew drops
I sidestep dandelions
they be weeds, but oh,
those yellow blossoms
these crickets
enraptured by nightsong
I follow their chirping
tonight I walk without shoes
no sirens in this rural refuge
no glass shard sparkle on sidewalks
no plastic bags dance on the wind
no cars rocking deep bass
but tomorrow, at sunrise
I will long for
my sky-high view
of the Hutchinson River,
the diamonds shimmy-shaking
across its current on sunny days,
the blasting horns,
rumbling wheels against tracks,
opening and slamming front doors,
mumbled good mornings on the elevator,
the slap of my sneakers on concrete/blacktop,
before my bus pulls off
but tonight I walk without shoes
Carla M. Cherry is a veteran high school English teacher, whose work has appeared in Random Sample Review, Bop Dead City, Anti-Heroin Chic, 433, Raising Mothers and has been nominated for Best of the Net. Her five books of poetry, Gnat Feathers and Butterfly Wings, Thirty Dollars and a Bowl of Soup, Honeysuckle Me, These Pearls Are Real, and Stardust and Skin are available via iiPublishing. She has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the City College of New York.