Once, when butter was hard
and the best toast came
out of a Sunbeam toaster,
I ate a vitamin 
that tasted like rainbows
and I held it on my tongue 
as long as I could

Once, when the sun was
so hot my sneakers
melted on the railroad tracks
and the smell of creosote
filled my nostrils,
I dropped my father's (secretly borrowed)
thermos in a ditch, and the inside
smashed to pieces

I thought, OH NO!
he's going to be mad
I left it in the ditch 
My bologna sandwich 
was dry on the way down
It stuck in my throat

Once, when the sky was
just a blue sheet
above the barn, I asked 
what color God was
(trying to figure out if 
the sky was God)

My grandmother said
God is the color of all things
all at once
I sat on the front steps thinking
about that
and a crow walked by
and pecked my ankle

OW! I said, and jumped up
He got scared and flew off
down the old dirt road
Disappearing into the thick trees



By Diane E. Dockum
©July 29, 2022