challenge at Wild for May 10

Wearing Orange in Reading, Pa.

The line of stragglers
down the hall has already heard the clink
of the keys on the chain. The sound is vulgar
to your ear, even though you claim you’ve never been to Reading
in your life. It'll be years before your sundown,
yet you wonder if your number
is up and all your hopes have faded like oranges to apricots.
You blame the strange solar
wind that keeps you wearing
that t-shirt look-a-like from Ocean Park.
They say New Jersey is as far from California
as hope is from freedom, yet you’re bound in the same sandwiches
you were last year, even though you hate being between pig’s ears.
Don’t look now, but you’ve turned as gray
as the windows where you used to walk.
I’ve heard of some ragged felonies
before, but this one takes the cake, your cadence
in the orange line is the same. They all say it’s inconceivable
that this little episode
is the last time you’ll have to walk this Berks County Property line.


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This is the result of a challenge that required the use of each of these last words except for the last line last word which we could choose. It got an honorable mention at Wild Poetry Forum in May 09.