A Styrofoam cup skips down Jackson Boulevard
followed by The Chicago Reader, a choreographed
separation of pages. The top floors of Willis Tower
sway slightly. On the lake, waves rock small boats.
At sidewalk cafés on Printers Row, napkins
rise like kites. Postcards advertising books
and ads for literary societies take wing,
fly down the street following authors and readers.
A gust of wind catches a young woman’s long hair
and short flared skirt as she walks with friends.
Suddenly, I see myself as seventeen, walking in wind,
my skirt flying up, my face turning scarlet.
WILDA MORRIS is Workshop Chair of Poets and Patrons of Chicago and a past President of the Illinois State Poetry Society. Her poems have found homes in numerous anthologies, webzines, and print publications, including The Kerf, The Ocotillo Review, Pangolin Review, and Journal of Modern Poetry. She has won awards for formal and free verse and haiku. Her second poetry book, Pequod Poems: Gamming with Moby-Dick, was published in 2019. Her poetry blog at wildamorris.blogspot.com features a monthly poetry contest. She still likes to walk, even on windy days.
