she does not
tolerate paradox well
nor him for
that matter
nor her cat
who likes to
lie across her shoulders
while a
chocolate labrador
sits at her
feet in stark obedience
ambiguity sits
uneasy with her
she demands her
facts black
and white
unstirred with no nonsense
loyal lapdogs
work best
in her
mind: low turnover
no need to
retrain even her thoughts
or plow new
earth of any kind
she was done
with all that a long time ago
when some
festered hurt pestered her
long after the
initial pain had passed
now she grows
thistles with the hope
that some Sweet
William or Jack-in-the-Pulpit
might
unexpectedly poke through
that is why he
stays to discover
if he is the
true wildflower she sees
and not the
mass of contradictions
he knows
himself to be
--by Barry Harris
Bio: Barry
Harris is editor of the Tipton Poetry Journal and has published one poetry
collection, Something At The Center.
Barry lives in Brownsburg, Indiana and is retired from Eli Lilly and Company. A
graduate of Ball State University with a major in English, Barry was founding
editor of Tipton Poetry Journal, which has been published in print and online
versions since 2004. In 2009, he helped found Brick Street Poetry, Inc., a
non-profit organization which now publishes Tipton Poetry Journal, hosts Poetry
on Brick Street, and sponsors poetry-related events. His poetry has
appeared or is forthcoming in Saint Ann’s Review, Grey Sparrow Journal, Silk
Road Review, Kentucky Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Silver Birch Press,
Boston Literary Magazine, Night Train, Hiss Quarterly, Cherry Blossom Review,
Flying Island, Lily, The Centrifugal Eye, Redheaded Stepchild, Flutter,
Wheelhouse Magazine, Houston Literary Review, Snow Monkey and Writers’ Bloc;
and in these anthologies: MOTIF 3: Work,
Twin Muses: Art and Poetry and From
the Edge of the Prairie.