Beyond
the Milestone
The
busy widow
irons
on a patch over
the
new mortal hole
in
the raiment of friendship.
Imperfection
perplexes.
*
The
sleepless widow,
first
full moon…how long its time
since our last
full moon…
grasps
the comforter tightly.
I
am the sole warm body.
*
The
bougie widow—
manis,
pedis, cabana
boy
in Speedo thong—
knows
no bling, no glitz outglows
my
molten gold of sorrow.
*
The
primal widow
summons
parliaments of owls,
feathered
sentinels
on
silent patrol guarding
the
haunted forests of love.
*
The
private widow
closed
dry eyes to degrees
of
need and desire.
When
will I be touched— caressed?
When
will I feel dreamed again?
*
The
spendthrift widow
indulges—
goes on shoe binges—
treats
feet for steep steps
varicose
veins may map blue
highways
but stilletto
bye-ways
where Blahnik pumps leap
*
The
seaside widow
scavenges
seashells pummeled
by
indifferent seas
She
sees in angel-wing shards
her
pale iridescent self
*
The
unknown widow
mystifies
herself— who? who
am
I and why?
To
be of river and sea,
an
estuary woman?
Karla Linn Merrifield
Karla Linn Merrifield, a nine-time Pushcart-Prize
nominee and National Park Artist-in-Residence, has had 600+ poems appear in
dozens of journals and anthologies. She has 12 books to her credit, the newest
of which is Bunchberries, More Poems of Canada, a sequel to Godwit: Poems
of Canada (FootHills), which received the Eiseman Award for Poetry. She is
assistant editor and poetry book reviewer for The Centrifugal Eye, a member of
Just Poets (Rochester, NY), the Florida State Poetry Society, and The Author's
Guild. Visit her woefully outdated, soon-to-be-resurrected blog, Vagabond
Poet, at http://karlalinn.blogspot.com.
Google her name to learn more; Tweet @LinnMerrifiel.
Tags:
Poetry