spots me down below
I’m hanging the laundry
I’ve dropped the clothespin
She swoops down and scoops it up
but does not hand it over
What color is the sky? she says
What tree is family?
I smile and pretend to ponder
while reaching for that clothespin
Carmine, I say, Definitely carmine
She flips her hand away coquettishly
And definitely, Pine, I add
She flaps her wings and my laundry line
waves like energetic clouds
Pretty don’t you think, she says
Okay, how about Oak? I say. I am getting cranky
Don’t you know? she says, I mean for sure?
A Pushcart-nominated poet, Ruth Lehrer is the author of the poetry chapbook, Tiger Laughs When You Push (Headmistress Press) and the young adult novel, BEING FISHKILL.