La Chenille

Luders Allen

June 2004
© Copyright 2004




On the sidewalk I was walking.
And sweat was rolling down my being.
My head’s facing, mostly, downward.
I saw one of the most earthly
Creatures, and she was beautiful

Just like a rainbow in the sky.
She glimpsed at me and walked away.
(She must have come from the poplars)
I stared at her with deep passion
And love. She kept rolling her legs

On the side walk with no regard
Of my being as she was rolling.
She had no intention how bad
And dangerous the sidewalk could be.
One second she might have been gone,

Without her trace, by one foot step
Because her danger already
Had been manifested inside me
Like the vision of a psychic.
I stopped her from moving further,

She turned around and kept moving.
I stopped her from moving further,
She turned around and kept moving.
In the end, I bent down this time
To stop her with the palm of my

Hand, she just turned and kept moving.
I stopped her again with my hand,
She turned around and kept moving.
In the end, she rolled up onto
The palm of my hand. I held her

And stared at her with passion and
Love. For few second she was being
Held into the palm of my hands.
In the end, I put her upon
The ground with so much tenderness

And regretfulness, where I thought
She might have come from: the poplars.
If she will never walk again
Upon the sidewalk, soon, she’ll spread
Her wings above the wide—long sky.