V. Paige Parker

The Roadrunner

Elusive, flitting feet on red brick sill,

Orange eyebrow streak, and marbled white on black,

Entices me to test my camera skill.

I spot you darting from my cul-de-sac,

Past periwinkle blue Plumbago shoots.

You fly and rest an eyeblink, piggyback

A chain-linked fence. You forage plots for fruits

Of prickly pear and kumquats. You awake

In me desire to know God’s resting routes.

You lunch a lizard and green garden snake.

Too fast for hurried pictures, blurry bird,

If only you would still the tracks you make,

Then with what beauty would my heart be stirred?

V. Paige Parker is married, has five children, and lives in San Antonio. Paige is a poet with an MFA in Creative Writing in the Catholic Literary Tradition from UST in Houston. She is a first-place winner and four-time finalist in Catholic Literary Arts poetry contests. Her poetry has appeared in Integrated Catholic Life, The Society of Classical Poets, and The Clayjar Review, among many others. Her Substack can be found at https://substack.com/@vpaigeparker.