THE SKIP OF A SPARROW
Shane DeMonica
May the rain, the rush hours,
the five o’clock news and flights
delayed, diverted, and cancelled
give you joy. Life is absurd.
Laugh before and after meals, at bedtime
and as needed, you can’t overdose.
Become a superhero; find your
x-ray vision. Peel the advertisements off
natural gas buses, billboards, ballgames,
and savor the simple truths within.
Discover peace in watching trees
grow or die oblivious to the ding
of doors opening, and the red flash
of expired parking meters. Measure
success by the width of smiles,
and spend yours freely, child—they will
ease the hard days ahead
for those less fortunate:
they who don’t know the joy
the skip of a sparrow can bring.
Shane DeMonica lives and works in Denver, Colorado. His work has been published or is forthcoming in Six Sentences, 5923 Quarterly, and Everyday Poets.
Read more of Shane’s work in DM XLIX Deliria!
