salvation army

salvation army she wore purple because she liked it. hanging stiffly on the store rack, yellow goodwill tag with smudged blue ink, was it a three or five? she argued for three, willing to pay five, she did. her breasts had followed the alphabet from a to b to c to d and settled back on c after some of the air had escaped her life and left her haggling over purple dresses. somehow salvation was unreachable and the army refused to go home, but she had purple swatches to mend the holes and fingertips that blended too well with gunnysack purple and bruised memories. she remembered life in yellows and orange bright colors that worshipped the sun. but that was when she dreamed while still awake and wished without a penny. purple happens to life. and it did. tolbert