i love:
by n. jeanne burns

i love:

friends in a circle under a towering old oak
dressed in the uniform of the Left:
khaki shorts, birks, rainbow t-shirts promoting
the cause du jour
singing old hymns in harmony:
not always in-tune.

shapely hourglass gardens in August
robust with towheaded flowers,
and more greens than perhaps God intended:
littered with victorious dandelions.

a pale five-year-old girl
her bangs cut in a perfect line
across her forehead
playing with her first makeup set:
coral blush dapples her lips
ruby lipstick kisses her eyelids
turquoise eye shadow streaks her cheeks.

my mother: who taught me
there’s only one right way to play.