Winnipeg

Winnipeg Every day you drive down my street, through my neighborhood, anticipating the day we'll infinitely meet I tried to ignore the feelings I've felt since the moment I walked into your convenient store but it ever holds the creative precipice of something more You stood less than a foot away while I unconsciously held my nervous breath You were holding yours too If only we knew But now we do The truth isn't always true Nor is it free for you or me The wind blew Scholastics were very few Punished for an era that never grew Her encyclopedias aren't new Faux dictionaries are the fiction of the past in belated mantras that had to last Even the fire burns out before it realizes why it was lit The fireplace watches faithfully as grandpa snores & grandma knits Mom & dad don't babysit when their tireless infants throw a raging fit, left to wonder where they misplaced a generations first aid kit Burned their fingers when they forget the oven mitt We've been there We've done that Old news is tucked neatly into older hats Bootlegs Winnipeg Old age is something you earn for the sake of the wisdom you asked to learn Flowers and trees Bushes and leaves The oldest trick in forbidden words still suffers the plot it deceives Forgotten? Never Hidden? As rightfully as its bidden Good ole darling ridden You see the warrior emerging from shame You see the fighter with nothing left to blame I still don't even know your last name But I thank God for you every day because this isn't some highschool football game There are no players No more cheerleaders to haunt the jocks in old dressing rooms across the parking lot They found his body on the rocks bound to a body bag stitched up with old rags, tied with dog tags because some still remember the night they were shot for every secret they carelessly forgot Pierce her scarlet letter with new fangled knots until she morphs into something better Take your orders Draw the margin around the recycle bin's borders You know exactly what it takes to win Your folly may never be another man's sin Dolphins eyelashes seduce that grin from fin to friendly fin My love, please let me in © Sarah Herring