Pearl’s Store

Once past
well tended bushes, flowers,
floors and walls
so clean you can straighten you clothes
as you walk by,
steeply descend a red carpeted staircase
to a room where
only those with eyes do see
magic performed there.

Pearl is a magician.
she offers sweets -
books, calendars, delectable food, warm coffee,
couches for long legs and short legs,
writing paper, pencils and erasers,
wisdom from experience and
love from Calvin.

Pearl and Calvin’s wealth,
freely given away
down there,
was reaped from denial
and generosity,
a trick with no visible form.

When celestial sharing
comes to an end,
climb those stairs,
linger over halls and rooms above,
impeccable vestibule, stone front steps,
stand by as Pearl and Calvin
tell stories about their floral children.
With a whimsical regret, depart.

Jim Desson © 2002 All rights reserved