East Village Red

Canada Flag on the balcony beckons me
To this home of the brave and free
There is unity here
Palpitating in the East Village

Crimson petals drop like tears from planters
Signalling seasonal changes and second chances
A sea of red scatters the cinders
Intertwines in the cracks
Like history
Ignored, forgotten, crushed

Red lies still and strong in the signs of independence
Red Bloom Salon
Evolution
Frilly Lily
Signs commanding us to stop and wait - it’s three way
Stop, now repeat, now go

Go forward! East Village shouts
Stripes, circles, rectangles of red
On brick, in windows, on the court

Apple red bicycle
leans on chipped white fence
Serving as a crutch
for the beat up frame

Ravishing red bleeds here,
breathes here,
In my heart,
In my home