The
Last Night
We ate
like Romans.
Sizzling
meat, pink with,
A spot
of red at the center,
butter
flowing with each bite.
Roasted
potatoes with verdant green herb
Lounging
on the white fluff of mash.
Robust
red wine, after wine, after wine.
The
sepia-toned light smooth like a blanket –
Los
Angeles at night, tucking us in –
until
an orange Ferrari buzzed through the yellow light.
You
leaned to me and I told you
Tomorrow’s
my last day here.
You
took a sip and the cabernet stained your lips,
Cufflinks
caught the light.
You
shone like success.
You’re
lucky, you said.
Your
words undulated toward me.
The
room spun until we were colors on a palette,
My self
melting into murky centrifugal brown.
I
didn’t know how to admit
A
failure was anything but luck.
You cut
through the silence:
You’re
not stuck.
My
faded fuchsia lips curled,
I’m not
home either.
Nicole
Bird
Nicole's career began with a degree in Creative Writing. Her focus then shifted to garnering degrees in Film Production and Screenwriting. Afterwards, Nicole worked in film, while writing and producing her own short films. Now, Nicole works as a Creative Writing professor and is currently at work on a collection of poetry, as well as honing her gluten-free baking skills developed during the 2020 quarantine. AUTHOR WEBSITE LINK
about time we read something italian related in this journal. no offense to the editor whom i am told is italian, but more of this is needed.
ReplyDeleteGod love you, Syra, and i do appreciate your sentiment. But an editor is about bringing together all peoples and walks of life. i cannot make people write "italian" nor am i disposed to "search" out italian writers. look at it this way, we don't get much italian-related work but when we do----it's that much more a celebration to many of us privately.
Deletei know you have to tow the line in a hostile world usually painting italians as crooks or low lifes, but i really want more of my culture out there. maybe i need a protest with a thousand italian old ladies screaming. works for everyone else.
Deletei have a podcast on italians in movies coming up later in August. thanks for adding your voice to our group. so glad you are feeling better.
Deletei am still laughing from that lady's comments. She's a blast. I really liked this poem because unlike a lot of work in the modern era they miss the heart of the moment. This one hasn't. She's right. You need to keep this writer.
ReplyDelete