A day
When the weather feels like
Love itself
Sunshine smiles in my eyes
As I drive down the Shoreway
Living for its breeze
I have just dropped off
Borrowed bones
Feathers and fur
Whole birds even
At the place my nephew calls
The dinosaurs’ house
Then gathered my strength
To return to work
I have a habit
Of holding my breath
Even before this temporary era
Of collective breath-holding
I keep it
Pulled back
Somewhere
Between my shoulder blades
Like when I think
If I just wait
Long enough
And sit
Still enough
I will see Steggy move
Plates serving sunshine
Twinkle in his eye
Or her eye
I don’t know
How do you know
With a stegosaurus
And I don’t mean to put a gender
On an inanimate object
That is replicating
An animate object
The life-size stegosaurus
Outside
A museum on a circle
Of museums
Where my circle has met
For
Years
Another circle
Art museum trips with babies
Heart walks with birthday buddies
Merry-go-rounds with my sister
That one time
Cleveland starts here
Says the sign
And so did I
Well
Not really
I was born somewhere else
But here
Is where I found myself
Here is where I keep coming back to
Came back crying
Came back smiling
Came back around
Like that circle of museums
Full of history
And art
And painted ponies
Where Cleveland starts
And
I ended
Up
Erin E. Dolan is a teacher, actor, playwright and poet based in Northeast Ohio, and a member of Literary Cleveland. Her works have been performed at Talespinner Children’s Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre, The Illusion Factory and Spark Theatre 4 Youth. She is also a member of Stratosphere, a Northeast Ohio–based artists’ co-op. Erin is fiercely proud to be a Clevelander, and especially revels in all of the art that is created here.
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Literary Cleveland is a nonprofit organization and creative writing center that empowers people to explore other voices and discover their own. Through an expanding roster of multi-level classes, workshops and events, Literary Cleveland assists writers and readers at all stages of development, promotes new and existing literature of the highest quality, and advances Northeast Ohio as a vital center of diverse voices and visions.
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