Issue
#8 

a poem by Duane Locke (1 of 2)

WHEN FOUR YEARS OLD (#37)

The one drug-store town
Had one clothing store.
The one clothing store
Had one manikin
In its one shop window,
Which was otherwise bare.
I noticed there was one
Crumbled-up letter
On the one shop window
Raw-board floor.
Someone had forgotten
To swept the letter out.
I noticed at the bottom
Of the page was
A lipstick stain.
The stain puzzled,
For the school teacher
Told me
That wearing lipstick
Was evil, a sin.
The manikin wore
A dark, drab suit,
A dark, drab tie,
But shiny patent leather
Black shoes.
His feet glowed.
I noticed that the
Manikin had
No fingertips, his
Fingers stopped
At the knuckles.
I thought how
Horrible it must be
To live,
And not feel.
I squatted down.
Rubbed my fingertips
Across the rough surface
Of the cracked sidewalk,
And was jubilant.

© by Duane Locke
 
Gutter Eloquence Magazine ~ Issue #8 ~ March 2010    next poem     return to top