The Green Tricycle: The Millennium Issue: Present: Barbara Ann O'Leary

The Millennium Issue:
Present
Barbara Ann O'Leary

Waiting

between breathing in and breathing out

she hears her "what can I get you?"
mantra echoing in her mind sees

herself clothed in an amber sari
brunette braids twisting against her neck

indigo teacups strapped to her ankles
clattering and tinkling like Tibetan prayer

wheels as she slips among diner tables
twirling swirling a whirling

dervish of waitressing fury

at the mouth of the tomb of her buried dreams
dark priestess propagating her own faith

she casts her bare arms above her
stirs the smoky air

draws down the night
turns to the nearest table

asks "what can I get you?"

~Barbara Ann O'Leary

Barbara has put down roots in a grove of trees by a lake. Her work has appeared in Aesau, Conspire and KotaPress Poetry Journal. Email.