Where From
Where From
There was a sloped curb,
concrete not stone,
that was my home.
Its lines were not blue
like the lines on a page,
but straight enough
in the warp of curb world.
It gathered in its grooves and on
its lap, the wilt of cherry blossom,
and, in fall, the slug
of leaf pelt.
It held the backs of my legs,
when lonely, and the slap
of bare feet, when charged,
and when it rained, a small barge
of blossom or leaf might float
in its shallow, lit by the light
that breaks through low-
slung clouds,
like that light that shines
from the planes of stained cheeks
or the angles of bangs
pushed back– It was that
kind of place.
*************************
draft poem for some day in April, for the Real Toads prompt by the wonderful Susie Clevenger to write of where one comes from. I’m probably late returning comments; will do so soon. Pic is by Diana Barco from my book of poems, Going on Somewhere (though this a new poem written for the prompt.)
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Tags: April 2016 National Poetry Month, Curbside poem, Diana Barco, http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com, manicddaily, Where from poem
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ManicDDaily 
April 25, 2016 at 12:56 pm
I really like how everything of that place is part of something larger.. the rain, the bangs pushed back.. do we build our homes or does the home build us?… maybe a little bit of borh
April 25, 2016 at 1:44 pm
Oh, this is just beautiful. Love this angle.
April 25, 2016 at 2:11 pm
LOVE the sound play and the way you describe the different ways in which curb held you. Very cool piece, K!
April 25, 2016 at 2:48 pm
It is amazing the details that spring to mind when one thinks about one’s childhood. The motif you chose is very strongly expressed throughout. I loved the poem.
April 25, 2016 at 2:56 pm
It seems it was a place of imagination, a place you called your own. My kingdom was an old abandoned car on our property. Thank you so much for writing for the prompt!
April 25, 2016 at 3:07 pm
Love, love, love this k 😀
April 25, 2016 at 8:25 pm
Oh wow….one of your best. I loved every line.
April 25, 2016 at 11:56 pm
Wow! Magic doesn’t only happen in rural settings. 🙂
April 26, 2016 at 7:46 am
There is a spare but rich quality to this one , k–very vividly drawn with only the most necessary lines(indeed, very fitting of the illustration.) It made me think of a few curbs of my own, when the ground was so much closer.