Challenging Poetry

the labyrinth

they say you can find your way
home from a labyrinth
by following the left wall
but I’ve seen the chip on that corner
at least eight times before
and that pallid tree
has been laughing at me
for nearly an hour
when I should be the one
laughing—who ever heard of
an ash tree
that had any sense of humor at all

I’d give up
but they coaxed me with promises
that at the center
was a treasure trove
of everything I wanted
even the things I never knew
I needed
like my left sock
a bag of marbles
and three dozen cupcakes
with icing thicker than the cake

why won’t the sky stop spinning
it’s distracting me from
dreams of maple sugar
hand knit lace
ancient Egyptian wisdom involving cats
and the name of my true love
spelled out in apple peel
thrown over my left shoulder
if I wanted psychedelics
I’d invest in a kaleidoscope
in fact I think I will
as soon as this maze
lets me go