Poem

Your Desire

Heel to toe,
heel to toe. The space
between strides can be measured
by your shadow on the sidewalk.
Your hands swing at your sides.
You feel the tiny blisters
on the tips of your toes
that never healed, bled
and the nails lost. Heel
to toe you walk the city, the sun
full out on bare head,
sweat dripping off hair
onto neck and back skin, absorbed
into clothes. A child
shoots a rainbow of water
from a toy squirt gun, the cement
a bright, reflected gold, pleased.
A park fountain spits at small kids
dancing in the manmade rain.
An elderly woman crosses the street
without looking, cars passing
around her without stopping.
She wills herself to the other
side, oblivious to threats
and tumbleweeds. No one thinks
nor dreams in this
straight-ahead-
heel-to-toe heat.
Everything is
a thirst.
Nothing real
but your desire
to drink in
whatever comes
your way.