All Things Fresh and Beautiful by Murray Dunlap

Photo courtesy of Viktorie Lexová
Photo courtesy of Viktorie Lexová

When the sun streamed through hair                                                                                                  ~ for Molly
And dew sat pensive
I thought, and thought
Of how I could possibly go.
How could I go…

The twilight perched on the shoulders
Of a dream
And played little mini-melodies
Of walking along the banks
And walking
And walking

See the smoke
Settling down in the lap
Of an innocent fool
And hum, hum, hum, of walking
And think it is quiet
In the daytime
And so to walk
Oh, to walk!

And then, just then
The thought dawned
Sing, and dance, and swallow
The mask of pain
The hiding place
Of sorrow
Sing and dance and swallow
For a night
Of  a walk
A bit of a walk
So welcoming
So bright
And beautiful…

 

 

Murray Dunlap’s work has appeared in about fifty magazines and journals. His stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times, as well as to Best New American Voices once. His first book, an early draft of Bastard Blue (then called Alabama), was a finalist for the Maurice Prize in Fiction. Bastard Blue was published on June 7th, 2011 (the three-year anniversary of a car wreck that very nearly killed him). The extraordinary individuals Pam Houston, Laura Dave, Michael Knight, and Fred Ashe taught him the art of writing.

Viktorie Lexova is an artist living in the Czech Republic and maintains an account on Flickr.

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