Little Pictures
Last night New Englanders
set back their clocks,
so this evening I walk out in the dark
with a letter to mail in my pocket.
It’s my first winter
in this old town built on hills.
I step briskly down the steep
corrugated sidewalk as
wind chills my face to a burn.
Church spires shimmer
like lighted tapers
above candelabra branches.
A distant bell chimes
the hour of closing shops,
of simmering suppers.
Wind lifts fallen leaves,
swirls them underfoot
where they crunch like
broken stained-glass windows.
A shortcut takes me by abandoned
factories, facades chipped
and weathered, windows boarded.
Beyond these ghosts
a footbridge spans the river,
streetlamps spread dim halos
over public lawns.
The river, rippling black,
reflects their glow.
In last summer’s sun
a man with an Asian face,
a cigarette stuck on his lip,
fished over the railing.
As I trudge across the bridge
I wonder if tonight
he’s sitting down
to a plentiful supper.
In front of City Hall
a mailman wearing earmuffs
transfers a canvas bag of letters
from a blue free-standing
mailbox into his truck.
Hungry to connect with someone,
I hand him my letter and ask,
“Lots of mail today?”
Shadows hide his face as
he answers without looking,
“Monday’s always busy.”
If we ever speak again,
we will not remember
that we have spoken before.
Light from mullioned windows
streaks the night. The library,
a sturdy stone-age castle, rises
to a turret where, I’m sure,
sentries watch my approach.
I enter through a rasp of iron
hinges on oaken doors.
Inside, from a muted radiance
of polished woodwork
a minion of Victorian London
will spring—any minute—bearing
a tray of sherry in long-stemmed glasses.
I walk home,
two suspense novels under my arm,
past buildings with sullen windows
and over the deserted footbridge.
Behind my white breath I pant
up the hill to garret rooms, a haven
offering a glass of white wine
and a warm supper of asparagus
with melted cheese on toast.
Purchase Blue Pearls.
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http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Blue-Pearls/Carlene-Tejada/9781590957431
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