Girl in a Purple Dress

Riding her bike down Water Street
Her bare legs flash as she pedals
Purple sandals strapped across her ankles
No hat, no scarf,
No watch or bauble
Her hair loose, the sun
Whips through it
No sunglasses
No painted toes
No rings
No sweater
No bag of groceries
No purse
Just a girl's purple skirt
Flaring in the breeze
Skating across her knees
The bike old-fashioned
Rubber pedals
Long-horn handle bars
No gears
No frills
Not a speck of new paint
Gliding down the sidewalk
Her colorless hair flung up
In wings
Reveals her bare ears
Her pink forehead
Parts the wind
Not a pocket
Not a pearl
Simple as the color of the sky
Hovering over the ocean
Dusk the color of morning glories
Her eyes fixed like field stones
On the road

Copyright © 2009 Dorianne Laux All rights reserved
from Hubbub
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission