Polly at Journal Read asked us to create an alternative reality. Since most of my reality is alternative already, this didn’t seem much of a stretch, and yet…
Sky Green
As I loll beneath a laughing willow
reading The Wit of Virginia Woolf,
sipping lemon juice from a
ceramic to-go cup…
I am struck by passersby who,
in the cool breeze of mid-August,
saunter to urgent meetings
when they should be hustling fast as sloths.
My blue hair is showing traces of
youth these days, bits of gold that
catch the noonday moonlight,
reflecting a crown-like glory.
Shall I stay on the lush red grass
or wander off past the former Starbucks
(now a café for overground art)
to catch the stagecoach back home?
Green sky at morning,
sailors take warning.
Grey sky at night,
sailors delight.
© 2012 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Also posted at my trusty REAL reality, Poets United.
Sharp Little Pencil 
vivinfrance
That’s a whole lotta fun you’ve given us this morning. Mind you, youthful hair is not so alternative: it comes out of a bottle for many folk! 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
Ha ha, Viv, I know. I’ve decided to keep my grey – it suits the change in skin tone after one turns 50. Both my sisters were “tragically blonde” for the longest time, and as my mom called it, Suicide Blonde: Dyed By Their Own Hand!! Amy
Joseph Harker
Wonderfully Fauvist. I like that “hustling fast as sloths”… there’s this video online of a sloth crossing a road with adorable determination, reminds me of that. 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
Hell, I dated a couple. Reminds me of the Pointer SIsters: “I want a man with a sloth hand…” (groooan) Thanks! wink, Amy
Sarav
Oh Amy, I just love that ending! One of my favorite teen movies (“Red Sky at Morning”) –or maybe I shouldn’t admit that…
http://saravinas.blogspot.com/2012/06/grin-and-share-it.html?spref=tw
Sharp Little Pencil
Oooh, I remember that movie! Not half bad! I’ll click your link, and thanks for leaving same… Peace, Amy
Sherry Blue Sky
I LOVE this!!!!! Now I want to create one, too!
Sharp Little Pencil
Go for it! If anyone can create a cool alternative reality, it’s you. Love, Amy
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kaykuala
Amy,
August is past the summer laze. You do well to go against others’ slow pace.
‘My blue hair is showing traces of
youth these days, bits of gold that
catch the noonday moonlight,
reflecting a crown-like glory’
That’s the way to go Ma’am, maintain your youthful vigor. Great write!
Hank
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Hank, you’re sweet. Yes, I am very proud of my grey hair, it’s coming in bit by bit, my “crone crown,” and I actually find that, in contrast to all the years of being the short little pixie girl, I’m taken more seriously now. Added benefit. I’ll never dye it… hard on your scalp, bad for your morale. Guess I’ll end up joining the Grey Panthers! Amy
wolfsrosebud
way to bring the reader into your world… I was there… hope all is fine with you.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, hon, all is well here. I had so damned much fun writing to this prompt, I asked Polly to come up with another one! Once in a while, it’s like dancing to “Footloose,” you know? Peace, Amy
purplepeninportland
I think I could handle that world.
Sharp Little Pencil
And you would be so welcome and fit in perfectly, what with your purple pen and all!! C’mon over anytime. Amy