After Mardi Gras

by Barry Dunlap

Pear trees lining
the street stand against
the February sky, reaching
arthritic fingers upward.

Desiring the heavens,
but clinging to three
trinkets of revelry –

green beads dangling
in the air like
the dreams of yesterday.

Barry Dunlap’s work has been published in Generations, Adirondack Review, Ruminate, Pebble Lake Review and many other journals. He is the founder and host of Twelve Minute Muse, a weekly podcast dedicated to exploring the creative process. He lives in Walker, Louisiana, with his wife and four children.