fine (adj.)
don’t I look fine today,
don’t I look just fine.
ask me how I am and I’ll say I’m fine.
well, walking a fine line anyway.
did you know the word I say is a lie?
it is true that I have become fine in texture,
filmy, almost worn through-
I hardly leave a shadow.
it is also true that I am sensitive in perception
…………..as well as discriminating.
I see through your gestures into what is clothed.
I read into what may not be there.
you give me a hint, I expound to the limit,
……………and certainly misconstrue,
but I am not free from impurity, not I,
certainly not superior in conception or appearance,
barely mediocre.
but my hair is clean and combed,
I stay on the right side of the line,
and isn’t it nice of me to smile at you.
others around me may be hardened to the limit
…………….of efficiency,
affecting elegance or refinement-
I merely pull a sweater over my head,
push my hands into my pockets
and say hello to you,
and say I’m fine.
© Dorothy Dodge
Dorothy Dodge has lived in the Baltimore area most of her life, and has a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She became involved in the poetry community in the 1990’s and has read in many local venues. Her work has been published in the Maryland Poetry Review, The Pearl, Dancing Shadow Review, and elsewhere, and was a nominee for the Artscape poetry award. She currently hosts a monthly poetry salon and is devoting more of her time to studio art.
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