Patricia Darcy

Bumpy Road

Proud first graders in starched cotton dresses. A select few have jobs. Mine is to clap
 erasers on the playground. Stop on the way home to show a new friend the Empty Lot. 
Point to a tree I often jump from. Prove it. Climb the tree in saddle shoes and a pleated 
skirt. Jump off the lower branch. That’s nothing. Climb to the upper branch. Slip and
 fall on gravel. Shatter right elbow. Endless week in a hospital bed. Look for my friend
 on the first day back. She’s outside, clapping erasers.

double dare. . .
a frozen flagpole
once burned

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About the Author

New to the form, Patricia Darcy has a haibun forthcoming in the October issue of Rapid River
 Arts and Culture Magazine. In 2022 Darcy crocheted her first cowl and Blue Unicorn
 published her first poem. She is partial to orange cats, stick shift, and the Oxford comma.

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