The Road Beneath Our Feet
Forbes Avenue and Wood Street. Pittsburgh – 1976
Even When It Rains
Even when it rains,
she goes shopping every Friday,
the day of the best sales.
First it’s the shoe store,
where the employees kneel,
knights before a queen.
Then it’s the department store,
the dining room serving tea and small sandwiches.
Finally it’s the boutique,
offering the smartest clothes in her size.
Even when it rains,
she wears the pearls from her first husband.
She holds the shopping bag close to her hip,
so the turquoise silk scarf won’t get wet.
She carries a transparent umbrella,
because she wants to see and be seen.
Why else would she have her hair done every Wednesday?
Why else would she lift her chin so high,
her second husband dead these four years?
— Geoffrey Himes
Geoffrey Himes. Geoff’s poetry has been published by December, Gianthology, The Loch Raven Review, Survision, January Review, Salt Lick, the Baltimore City Paper and other publications. He also has poems in the anthologies Singing in the Dark and Poet Trees: Poetry Hiding in Plain Sight. His song lyrics have been set to music by Si Kahn, Walter Egan, Billy Kemp, Fred Koller and others.
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