Intrepid<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In front of the old b-and-b, daffodils<\/p>\n
poke their heads through the wrought-iron fence.<\/p>\n
When we were kids, we used to poke our heads between<\/p>\n
fence posts, too.<\/p>\n
What is it with kids and reaching into spaces<\/p>\n
unknown?\u00a0 Even seeing beyond the pickets<\/p>\n
didn\u2019t disabuse us of the idea that somehow,<\/p>\n
sticking your head through made it<\/p>\n
different<\/i>.\u00a0 That you could know something<\/p>\n
with your body on one side of the balusters<\/p>\n
and your noggin on the other side<\/p>\n
that you couldn\u2019t know\u00a0 otherwise.<\/p>\n
And once in a while, someone would get stuck, right?<\/p>\n
Remember that?\u00a0 Remember how red<\/p>\n
that kid\u2019s ears would get as he gave it<\/p>\n
just one more try <\/i>to get free, <\/i>screwing up his face<\/p>\n
against the rub-burn and bruising before<\/p>\n
giving in to the inevitable?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And you know what really kills me?<\/p>\n
How many things we did like that,<\/p>\n
how many places we went in without looking,<\/p>\n
or looking, but just not believing our eyes,<\/p>\n
despite our fathers\u2019 warnings<\/p>\n
never to reach blindly into the hedge<\/p>\n
where the blackberry vines grew,<\/p>\n
where the snakes love the berries, too.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
***<\/strong><\/p>\n This poem<\/strong> <\/em>is the\u00a0tenth (yikes!)\u00a0in my marathon of poems (plus 3.8) for Tupelo Press\u2019s <\/a>cool fundraising project 30\/30.\u00a0 You can view the poems I and the other \u201crunners\u201d submit every day during the month of March, at<\/p>\n http:\/\/tupelopress.wordpress.com\/3030-project\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n Please follow our work, and if you find it even the slightest bit entertaining, engaging, thought-provoking, or just generally worthy, donate to Tupelo Press, an independent literary publisher.\u00a0 Sponsor me<\/strong> by entering T. Thibodeaux Baar<\/strong> <\/em>in the \u201cin honor of\u201d line on the donation form, which you can find here:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.tupelopress.org\/donate.php<\/a><\/p>\n (Scroll down; it\u2019s a form!)<\/p>\n Thanks for stopping by!\u00a0 I am happy to hear from you via email or comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Intrepid In front of the old b-and-b, daffodils poke their heads through the wrought-iron fence. When we were kids, we used to poke our heads between fence posts, too. What is it with kids and reaching into spaces unknown?\u00a0 … Continue reading