Errand

Midnight wreck on Lakeshore,
swirl of sirens, the sleepy
slowing to stare.

Dream cars look
for death. I am looking for cough syrup.
Tiny chokes insistent as spinning

ambulance lights. Wal-Mart is
full as if it were noon,
and no one should write a poem

about Wal-Mart. So call this a poem
about someone’s speed slipping
over a curb. Call this

a poem about mothers who steal
out for medicine but browse
the make-up aisle

because the day was long.
Frivolous feels like a blessing.
Call this a poem about spider lilies

all over the city sleepless
and blooming whether we
watch them or no.

Julie Steward

Julie Steward is a poet, playwright, and essayist who teaches English at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.  Her poetry has most recently appeared in Poem/Memoir/Story and Friendly Woman.  She writes a monthly column for Birmingham Magazine and has recently published articles on literary theory and on T.S. Eliot for mental_floss magazine.