Lisa Davidson

Managing Your Flamingo

"The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo..."
Lewis Carroll

"Eccentric" is the word they seize
After weeks of polite groping
For the name of your behavior problem.

For you insist on holding on
To this pink exotic wading Bird.
They say your flamingo is showing.

There's nowhere to hide it, really.
Etiquette declines to mention
How to keep the neck straight, the beak polished,

How to stop people from glimpsing
The forbidden fiery plumage,
The uncontrollable tropical toes.

(from my collection Madam, Your Daughter is Molting, ISBN 0-944920-10-1
Originally appeared in the Seattle Review.)

https://tropicaltoes.wordpress.com/

After Cold Rain by Lisa Davidson (mp3)

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