Elegant Toe
Lucille Lang Day
Death wears a red satin dress
with sequins and ruffles,
silver shoes, a ruby ring,
a red camellia in her hair.
With polka-dot nail polish
on fingers and toes, she points
an elegant toe toward the great
chartreuse unknown.
She smiles beguilingly,
revealing perfect teeth,
drinks margaritas
with salt on the glass.
Her red is the red
of beginnings, of walking
red pathways, searching
for a hidden wall—
the one beyond which
everything you ever wanted lies,
the one that is high and slippery,
impossible to climb.
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