Steps down or up
are mostly ignored
like those who brood
or moods themselves
spoken or shifting
like light
like light headed
or lighthearted
but poems that sink or rise
quietly or in a crowd
are not so easily found,
and that is the business
of poetry
It's why so many women
give in to a man
& find themselves coming out
alone,
& why victims run away
& whistle blowers fade,
each backing, daily,
into those small deaths
Divorce
anxiety
abduction
ugliness
greed
In or out
up or down
like this day,
I don't know how this poem
will end
rising or falling
in heaven or hell,
in the wink of an eye
in the sound of a stair.
Lee Mallory, producer of First Priday Poetry, will host a workshop ("Taking Your Poetry Onstage") at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. Call 702-507-3458 for details.