The fire escape finds meaning
The fire escape on the side of my building has been gone
on a long road trip, where pull-down ladders can live more
freely, yank bolts from walls and steel stands, and also
lean picturesquely in a ghostly sunset where fracture-resistant
platforms ply against brick facades, like waves scour
a boat.
There’s lots to do in a city for an untethered
fire escape—bridge a river, and back flip through the park,
racing rungs through the wind where the handholds whistle
like pirate ships hail each other, an exquisite thrill.
But that was yesterday.
Today the fire escape is
outside my window again, and is so full of stance and presence
any crane or pelican might land, to craft a towering nest
right there, to look over grey downtown while the glass
of the office windows reflects blocks of gold fire
through its elegant rungs.
Lynn Finger’s works have appeared in 8Poems, Fairy Piece, Drunk Monkeys, and ONE ART: a journal of poetry. Lynn also released a poetry chapbook, “The Truth of Blue Horses,” by Alien Buddha Press (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WPN32Q1). Lynn edits Harpy Hybrid Review, and her Twitter is @sweetfirefly2.”