Wearing Clown Paint by KG Newman

While walking my turtle in the city

I am forced to absorb the sweetness in life,

and its infinite salt:

a child running barefoot around

the park’s technicolor roundabout

showing no signs of getting tired

while a dog sniffs at some shit

a few paces off. There’s a lonely, beautiful woman

wearing an enticing white veil

and standing at a black easel

sketching the graffitied capitol.

Couples fighting over

an expensive patio brunch here, and there.

Old men staying sharp at their boards

as they push their glasses

back up their noses

and make gambits with confidence

while birds selectively pick litter

at their feet. Let’s just sit and not talk,

I tell the turtle an hour later

when we finally reach the chipped green bench.

Let’s sit here, feel lousy,

and watch the grass grow or go dormant,

whatever the season calls for.

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KG Newman is a sportswriter who covers the Broncos and Rockies for The Denver Post. His first three collections of poems are available on Amazon. The Arizona State University alum is on Twitter @KyleNewmanDP and more info and writing can be found at kgnewman.com. He lives in Hidden Village, Colorado, with his wife and two kids.