GAS Featured Poet: Duane Anderson

 Duane Anderson currently lives in La Vista, Nebraska.  He has had poems published in Fine Lines, Cholla Needles, Tipton Poetry Journal, and several other publications. He is the author of On the Corner of Walk and Don’t Walk, The Blood Drives: One Pint Down, and Conquer the Mountains.

The Shoe Enthusiast

 

 

The only mail from today’s delivery, 
a flyer addressed to my wife, 
or the current shoe enthusiast, 
adding the second addressee  
as a precaution in case we had moved 
and did not provide a forwarding address,

hoping one of the new owners 

 

would also be a shoe aficionado, though I never 
realized my wife was one of the chosen ones, 
though she did have many more shoes than I, 
knowing I could never be called one of the special ones, 
for I waited until one of my shoes became fatigued,

with worn-out souls and heels, cracked sides, 
scuffed up beyond any help from a shoe shine.

 

It had to be out of necessity before I ever 
visited a shoe store on purpose. 
My feet, had they grown, or shrunk, 
had I met death before new shoes were required? 
There was no need for an extra pair sitting around 
like the spare tire for a car, 
just waiting for a blowout.           

The Most Talked About House

 

 

She just had her house painted, 
now matching the color of her trash cans, 
a deep, dark blue.

 

Was she honoring her garbage cans 
by choosing the same color, 
giving the camouflage it needed to blend in,

 

or honoring her house, 
making it the most outstanding  
looking dwelling in the neighborhood?

 

Two things for sure about the change, 
friends looking to visit, would now have  
an easier time finding her house

 

with its distinctive and unique color, 
and now, definitely the most talked about house  
in the neighborhood by the other neighbors

 

as they drove or walked by. 
Congratulations on your choice, 
you now have everyone’s attention.