Tuesday, April 22, 2025

poem

 Birthday

In the old days when the earth was flat

You could only walk so far until

You fell off the ledge

But that never happened.

If you ever got too close

The gods would strike 

You down with a thunderbolt

Or turn you into a goat.

We used to follow a lunar calendar.

My birthday was always two weeks after

The first half moon of the vernal equinox

But as time went on it got

Too complicated to remember.

People lost their literacy of the skies

Even I forgot I was still alive.

So now every fourth sunny day in April

I whisper my wish to the wind

And wait for the dogwoods to flash pink and white

Like thousands of candles on a birthday cake


4/22/25

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