My Neighborhood
by Laura Nejako
This morning
I balanced acquisition
on the lop-sided left wheel
of a tricycle
I tucked curiosity
along with my hair
in the nook of
my brother’s baseball cap
I grasped idleness
in the climbing
of a hidden
mulberry tree
I threw adventure
with the flat-edged stones
across the unpredictable
stillness of a creek bed
And when that didn’t work
I wore disappointment
like trees wear leaves
shrugging in the fall
82