Wondering out loud

Why not take off your cap?

maybe, toss it up into the windless morning sky

or watch

as arms pose, and branches embrace the folds.

You know already it’s the toss, that matters,

or pass it along in a breath of rescue

to the dusty traveler.

Why not just shake off your shoes?

Look to see if they need patching,

with brilliantly faded colors of cotton

then leave them at the road’s edge.

Why not look as closely as you can?

toward the faces close up, the tears,

or the newborn turtle

finding its way across jagged rocks.

You know already it’s the looking, that matters.

And when the winds pick up,

Why not open the heart you carry inside?

with the very red you love,

crimson, blood, burgundy or scarlet…

and weep.

N.L. Reynolds