sidewalks into fortunes

november 19, 2012

two nickels and the dime,

heads down 

on the sidewalk crack

just in front of her untied shoe lace

arms length as she passed swiftly

he had imagined fireworks

instead his best hope

burst open and scattered

like loose change

and not worth the reach

riding quietly for home, 

he honked his horn twice just before leaving

letting the white lights of the black sky 

sing optimism into the throttle

hold on tightly

failure is real

as real as the hope 

i try to remind him of

hope like a 1992 summer

when we flew 

from our parents rooftop with a bed sheet

when all we knew 

was that we were fearless

and a mother’s shriek 

and a father’s fist

couldn’t beat the braveness from our bones

i still want to fly

so please

let me call you beautiful

let me fall in love with every kind of beautiful that you wear on your body

let me leap from your rooftops

my arms have never been wider

your lips have never been brighter

let me kiss them heavenward

let my kisses burst into your wildest dreams 

let us come down slowly

and together 

we'll collect all our failures from the sidewalks into fortunes