A little lowbrow poetry

Meme: post a poem to your journal.

I Confess

I stalked her
In the grocery store: her crown
of snowy braids held in place by a great silver clip,
her erect bearing, radiating tenderness,
the way she placed yogurt and avocados in her basket,
beaming peace like the North Star.
I wanted to ask "What aisle did you find
your serenity in, do you know how
to be married for 50 years, or how to live alone,
excuse me for interrupting, but you seem to possess
some knowledge that makes the earth burn and turn on its axis--"
but we don't request such things from strangers
nowadays. So I said, "I love your hair."

--Alison Luterman

I guess it's lowbrow: I saw it on Tri-Met buses for ages, part of their "Poetry in Motion" series. It was a winner in the Olay Total Effects "Fine Lines Poetry Contest."

I like it anyway.