Love Letter to Leslie Knope by Hannah Kludy

in my park

a teenager sleeping in the tunnel slide

thankful for shelter even as the plastic drips

with hot missouri condensation

a homeless man bathing in the public restroom

padlock snipped and rusting on the baseball diamond

dandelions cresting the outer rim

a picnicking couple drinking sloppily

from a bottle of rose thirsty

after salty blue cheese smeared on red radishes

tigerlillies peeking

from behind the fountain’s edge where soft water

laps against century old stone

and least of all me tired in need

of some healing and beauty praying

to the only goddess i know

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Hannah Kludy (she/her) writes a bunch and cooks almost as much. Her work has been published in magazines such as All the Sins, apt, and 34th Parallel. She lives in Kansas City and spends her time irritating her husband and giving her dogs cream cheese. Twitter: @KludyHannah