Poetry

Matt McDaniel photo

By

Grant Guy

Shuffling

Making my way along Dumaine in Nawlins

I was in no particular hurry

Looking at the pastel houses

When I tripped over a rise in the broken sidewalk

I stumbled forward able to break my fall

Behind me I hear

When in Nawlins you gotta lift your feet

If you’re gonna shuffle along you gonna trip

And fall on your face just like that

People say my people shuffle

But they ought to see you shuffle

Laughs all around

Complexions

In the Minneapolis airport

Grabbing a bite to eat between flights

The waitress seemed to be one of those genuinely happy people

I don’t think it was an act to solicit a higher tip from me

She just appeared to be one happy person

I told her I was tired

She hoed I could get a little sleep on my flight

I said I cannot sleep on airplanes

She said she can sleep anywhere

She told me a story of a time when she was a student

She was taking a bus from the suburbs to a Quaker school in Minneapolis

She fell asleep and was awakened by the bus driver at the end of her route

He told her she would either have to get off or pay the fair again back into the city

She apologized

The driver feeling empathy for her let her ride back into the city

Without paying the fare

The driver was new to the route but was the driver on that bus

For the rest of the school term

Every morning when she boarded the bus for school the driver said

“Good morning, sleepy head.”

She was so embarrassed

Then she said

“I blush easily but thanks to my complexion you can’t tell”

I said

“I blush easily but thanks to my complexion you can tell”

Grant Guy

Grant Guy is a Canadian poet, writer and playwright. He has over one hundred poems and short stories published in internationally. He has three books published: Open Fragments, On the Bright Side of Down and Bus Stop Bus Stop. His plays include an adaptation of Paradise Lost and the Grand Inquisitor. He was the 2004 recipient of the MAC’s 2004 Award of Distinction and the 2017 recipient of the WAC Making A Difference Award.