'ON THE GROUND LOOKING UP' by Kenneth Pobo

My husband says, “When we met

I saw you fly.” I used to fly often.

Now I drink warm Ovaltine and play

Canasta with Mrs. Pritchard next door.

She still doesn’t believe that I

could fly. It’s OK. Logical.

she did well in high school geometry,

can prove a triangle is a triangle.

I’ve been in a few triangles

and they are rivers. A glint

of moonlight makes them overflow

their banks. It’s not my husband’s

fault that I no longer fly.

One day I just stopped.

I might start it again, maybe

take off from Mrs. Pritchard’s roof.

I miss clouds. For now,

I stay on the ground. Roots dig

into it, and voila, a dahlia

opens a red castle.

Copyright. Kenneth Pobo.

Kenneth Pobo is the author of twenty-one chapbooks and nine full-length collections. Recent books include Bend of Quiet (Blue Light Press), Loplop in a Red City (Circling Rivers), and Uneven Steven (Assure Press). Opening is forthcoming from Rectos Y Versos Editions. Lavender Fire, Lavender Rose is forthcoming from Brick/House Books.