A Splash of Colour
April 20 2023
I slump through the crowd
in salt-stained sweats
and rumpled hoodie,
eyes on the ground
directly ahead,
hands thrust in my pockets.
Scuffed runners
and dark colours
from black to greys.
I am incognito
on a sea of such people,
most of us dressed
for comfort and warmth.
Some would say
a sign of disrespect
and the end of civilization.
But why present yourself
inauthentically?
Because we are not fancy people
putting on airs;
we’re not fooling anyone.
Work, kids, chores.
Winter slush
and short dull days.
Then her,
breezing by, turning heads;
a splash of colour
gleaming smile,
laughter light as air.
This is Oz, after Kansas,
a sun-dappled upland
after the storm.
This is why
you take time to dress,
winter or not.
And I would,
if anonymity
weren't so comfortable,
a uniform
didn't pander to my inner sloth.
So I follow her with my eyes
as she recedes into the throng.
And after she has disappeared
begin to wonder
just what I really saw.
Was it her?
Or a waking dream
as I sleepwalk through life?
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