painted ladies
over the years i have forgotten her eyes
that her smile was soft
and her hair like chiffon on a wednesday morning
we walked along stanyan street
celebrating the colors of a fall morning
listening to simon and garfunkel
and watching steam rise from beneath the street
the majesty of the painted ladies
on steiner street came alive as they stared us down
two lovers hand in hand
looking for a place to lay a blanket
in alamo square park
we must have looked bland
compared to their flamboyancy
queen anne archetecture—fancy and flashy
combinations of bay windows
from which lovers could be watched
jutting turrets and ornately decorated rooflines
even then, when i saw the brilliant pink
of a lady, i saw you, your lips, your smile
and of the blue, i saw your eyes, the sparkle
the laughing way they looked at me
yet i have forgotten the colors
and only the painted ladies
on steiner street remind me
of that morning
looking for a place to lay a blanket
in alamo square park
tolbert
Categories:
rooflines, nostalgia,
Form: Free verse
I’ve contemplated my navel
for hours at a time
Searching for precisely
a Buddha-like rhyme
I’ve looked to the Heavens
yearning for signs
Yet disappointment replies
in the form of rooflines
I’ve watched the ocean
breakers reach shore
My eyes suddenly water
I’m no commodore…
Though I’ll never give up
my pursuit of the Grail
It sure seems to me
I’ve been chasing my tail
Categories:
rooflines, america, hope, poems,
Form: Rhyme