Looking for Perfection

Each fall
I walk the asphalt road
turned to satin
by rain
and search the splatters
of maple leaves
to find one
perfect crimson star
the size of a baby’s hand.

Today I found one
or so I thought
until I saw
some rogue insect
had preceded me
eating a hole–

–a perfect oval.

“Looking for Perfection” appeared in The Northern Virginia Review, Vol. 22.

© 2006, Janet M. Taliaferro

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About Janet Taliaferro

I write novels, poetry, and short stories. In broad-brush terms, I have written about alcohol and drug addiction, and more importantly, recovery and the influence of twelve-step programs, incest, racial and religious tolerance, abortion, and war. In previous lives I was a political activist and business owner and have remained an avid Planned Parenthood supporter over the years. I graduated from Southern Methodist University and hold a Master’s Degree in Creative Studies from the University of Central Oklahoma, where I received the Geoffrey Bocca Memorial Award for graduate writing.

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