learning to walk these streets
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learning to walk these streets like
one of a herd of sheep in an iowa
field at dusk i am the lagging lamb
needing to get to my destination
quicker than i am slithering like
a southwestern sidewinder feeling
like a herring on the run a salmon
at spawning season a center under my
team's hoop i dodge moving bodies on
the diagonal like a polygraph needle
measuring erraticism efficiency
be damned the shortest distance
between two points lost in the milieu
forward forward i am conquering this
path downtown but too slowly too slowly
determined i try the dutiful soldier
stance marching straight-faced stiff-
backed cadenced feet my umbrella sabored
at my side then as an armored tank at war
a bulldozer at the condemned city building
site a plow on a snowed-in street
advancing advancing i am conquering this
path downtown but too slowly too slowly
changing tactics i become the human
bumping car the demolition derby queen
of broadway from 56th west to east
8th on crowded sidewalks in indianapolis
time bruises for dents snarls for laughs
purse hugging my hip for crash padding
onward onward i am conquering this
path downtown but too slowly too slowly
i switch to the psychological approach
featuring myself a blue ribboned mare
nosing the finish line the turtle of cocky
hare fame an olympic track star going
for the gold the little engine that could
the russian dissident who continues doing
art her way the big band drummer meeting
every beat of a nonstop marathon concert
enduring enduring i am conquering this
path downtown advancing forward enduring
onward till i get there a bit worn
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Poem by Janet Cannon
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Previously published in
Passaic Review
and
Stroker 28
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