Good Neighbor
Morning cooler than usual, the dew glistening.
I decide to trespass to get a better look
Ceramic blue and burnt orange
Nicely glazed with fresh violets, marigolds
And geraniums.
There I observe five pots of flowers
On my neighbor’s porch
And the shadow of a passing sun
Casting thin draperies
Of gray across the doorway.
And now I know I must return
And replace the stolen look
With something resembling hospitality.
Neighbor to neighbor
Asking questions, speaking softly, asking
Of the generosity of light, the watering schedule
The ritual of shadow in the windows.
For today I welcome
The chance to cross over, to be curious
To ask of the little miracles of day
The shadows of birds freckled in the grass
The wind naming its likeness.
The artistry of returning friendship.
Asking what can a neighbor possibly know of peace?
Everything it seems, her smile like a rainbow in the sky.
Keith Melton holds a Master’s in City Planning from Georgia Tech and a BA in Economics and International Studies from the American University. His work has appeared in Amethyst Review, Compass Rose, The Galway Review, Big City Lit, Confrontation, Kansas Quarterly, Mississippi Review, The Miscellany, Pure Slush, Monterrey Poetry Review and others.
Amethyst Review 