18 Feb

NYX Macaron #07: “Citron”

Yellow lips are on my bucket list.
I’d choose a pigment
close to jonquils
bursting through snow,
blooming like there’s no tomorrow.

It reminds me of chasing worms
down a sidewalk,
chalked lines
of a hopscotch course
still visible
beneath this puddle―
the clarity of childhood.

But now, I am a grandmother.
I want to play like that again―
with abandon. Learn to experiment
with shade and shadow,
make a bold statement.

Let’s face it:
nothing says, Surprise!
better than a mouth
the color of a rain slicker,
lit with hope,
and sparkling.

Anne Yale is the author of Liturgy of Small Feathers. Her poetry has appeared in Chaparral, Blue Print Review, Zócalo Public Square, and California Quarterly. She is founder and editor-in-chief of Yak Press, and originator of the Native Blossoms Chapbook Series. Although she’s been a resident of the Mojave Desert for over twenty-five years, she still claims she’s “just passing through.”