O, I won’t write about the corn cob buildings
or Oak Street Beach
beyond sidewalk and trees.
O, instead
let me write about the Lavendaria
on the corner of Armitage Avenue
and Kedzie
where the other day I saw
a little boy
pushing his infant sister
in one of those metal clothes carts on wheels.
O, you know the one
the one found
in those typical city walls.
I go there sometimes
how it feels safe to me,
and home, warm.
O, I won’t write about the city’s skyline
the stars of the dark
overlooking Damen, past Milwaukee.
O, instead let me write about the car wash
on Lawndale and North,
the joy
of doing it myself,
to go here, means to step outside myself,
and driving,
I have to remember
that the city I love is known as wild abandon
and often it leaves for physical work.
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Wherever I’m At: An Anthology of Chicago Poetry. Edited by Donald G. Evans and Robin Metz. Chicago: Chicago Literary Hall Of Fame, After Hours Press and Third World Press, 2022. Excerpt of one poem.
Copyright © 2022 by Chicago Literary Hall Of Fame, After Hours Press and Third World Press. Publishing June, 2022. All rights reserved.
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VIOLA LEE graduated from NYU. She published in Crazyhorse, Bellevue Literary Review, Literary Mama, Hong Kong Review, Crosswinds Poetry Journal, After Hours and Another Chicago Magazine. She has poems forthcoming in Barrow Street, Lotus Magazine, New Plains Review, and North Dakota Quarterly. She lives in Chicago with her husband, son and daughter and works as a 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade Montessori teacher.
Another Chicago Magazine 