Courtesy of Shabunawaz Photography © 2010

By: Doug Holder
_______________________________________

The raw, coiled

red glare

of the hot plate–

the urine stain

of a sink

and the waft
of Red Sauce

from Davio’s below–

The head
a short, anxious scamper

Courtesy of Shabunawaz Photography © 2010

down the hall,
the hacking cough

of the retired civil servant

Courtesy of Shabunawaz Photography © 2010

through a thin wall.

And the spinster

who peers from

the crack in her door

gathers her pennies
and courage

for her big trip

to the corner store,

the wooden ladder that

ascended to a tar roof

the sweet /sorrow scent of city, rain and sea…

and my youth…