By Mushroom Montoya
She pitter-pattered
across the roof
Looking for a jump
stop,
A springboard to party
A megaphone
Big enough to call
Her friends to swarm
and play
Their drums
while they danced
and ran,
Tiptoeing at first,
Then pounding their feet
To a gregarious beat,
Blooming an
exuberant chorus of laughter,
calling more and
more of them
until thousands of
tiny drummers
were pounding, giggling, and laughing
over and around each
other
splashing their
giddiness
on each other’s
faces
All the way across
the roof
To the platform
Where they poured
themselves
Over the edge
Disappearing in the blackness
of night,
Without the slightest
fright,
Their tippy-tappy feet running
And jumping
Off the roof,
Onto the ground,
Or sliding like thieves
Onto waving leaves
That they paid
handsomely
In the morning.
For catching them.
When the sun peeked
out
And erased the dark,
And the meadowlark
Began to sing,
My ears perked up
To the invitation to
go outside.
My eyes glowed in
awe
For before me I saw
A bedazzling array
of gilded gems
Sparking and twinkling
All over the plants,
the leaves,
And even in the nearly
invisible
Spider webs
That winked at me
With an invitation to
see
My own beauty
They were reflecting
Back to me.
I heard them say
They threw a hilarious
drumming party
In the wee hours of
the night
And they laughed at
the ones
Suspended
over the open jaws
Of the sharp-toothed
succulent
Reminding me
That nothing went wrong
While the rain pounded the roof
With its fluid feet,
Leaving glowing jewels
For the sun to eat
Throughout the day.
