BEAU BOUDREAUX // Central Park, 1996

Central Park, 1996

Late August, open briefcase
of books on the east lawn

shade’s arm
adoring Houllebecq

and watching
squirrels chase through trees

a woman eats blueberries 
one by one, a bike pedals by

day silverized as if Apollo
holds the sun for ransom

though shade begins to open
its navy blanket

I put the novel down
and lie back, the light

catch rustic and auburn on the leaves.

---

Beau Boudreaux teaches English in Continuing Studies at Tulane University in New Orleans.  His first book-length collection Running Red, Running Redder was published in the spring of 2012 by Cherry Grove Collections.  He has published his poetry in journals including Antioch Review and Cream City Review, and in anthologies including The Southern Poetry Anthology.