NaPoWriMo 2024 — Day 21

Downtown Days

Order the greasiest
slice of pizza in
the case & have
a ginger beer to
wash it down.
Discover the dusty
old arcade game
you played as
a child & lament
how your youthful
reflexes used to advance
you to further levels.
Keep feeding it quarters
to prove you still got it.
Fail.     Wrap your scarf
tighter around your
neck because April
winds still carry
the bite of winter
as you walk to the
bookstore.    Crash
a poetry reading.
Let your mouth
get dry because
you’re so flustered
to be reading
to a small group
of strangers
who also wield
words as you do.
Shake their hands.
Feel accepted
when they like
what you managed
to squeak out.  Take
this all as a sign
that you’re on
the right track
to honing your craft
again.    Remember
that it’s Record Store
Day & load up
a brown paper bag
with as much vinyl
as you can carry.
They give you a Carpenters
record free of charge.
Say thank you to everyone.
Thank you to the blossoming
trees outside the marquee
theater.     Visit the
French pastry shop
& be kind & patient
when they can’t get their
milk steamer to work.
“I ordered it iced anyway.”
Things work out wonderfully
when you have no plans.
Wait for the bus,
gather your thoughts &
your packages.  Flip
through the poetry book
by a local author you
purchased.    Peruse
the literary journal
the kind editor you met
gave you for free.
Everything is a gift
in this city.   Every
smile the passerby
send your way.
Every cloud threatening
with flurries even though
it’s supposed to be Spring.
As soon as you get home
write a poem about
all the little joys
you’ve experienced.
Send it out into
the digital universe
with gratitude.

Photo by Jackson Patino