Featured photography by Jim Zola.
I’m painting a portrait of “Before,”
because it’s beautiful.
Walking city streets and clutching at fistfuls of air,
which has the freshness of a popsicle
just pulled out of the freezer
Cabs gliding by lazily,
like waiters circling tables
to see who’s looked over their menus
Sidewalks, imminently covered in shoes,
enjoy gazing up greedily
at the entirety of a cloudless sky
The lights of office towers glowing warmer,
savouring a few more seconds of freedom
from brewing coffee-coloured shadows
Stores keeping doors and windows closed
like blankets pulled over their heads
as they sleep in just a little longer
This is the zig-zag dance you make
through the seats of a theatre
that’s hours away from welcoming an audience
The point prior to pouring the
pancake batter that will signal-smell
the beginning of breakfast
The smile of the prospector
who arrives to pan for the gold
ahead of anyone else
An almost giddy opportunity
to trespass streets nicknamed
“Almost,” “Just About” and “Soon.”
Shane Schick has had poetry published in Shrapnel Magazine, Neologism Poetry Journal, Grand Little Things and Fully Lit, among others. He is the founder of 360Magazine.com and provides content marketing services. He lives in Toronto with his wife and three children. More: ShaneSchick.com/poetry. Twitter: @shaneschick.