Al Fresco in the Pandemic

 

 

 

 Al Fresco in the Pandemic

 

 

The couple at the outdoor restaurant across the street:

I noted he looked at her eight times for every two

she turned toward him. Their mouths

 

moved regularly. She smiled twice in a ten-minute

span. He hand-fed her a bite of one item

from his brunch plate. I think I liked him

 

and not her. I don’t know why.

They didn’t see me in my apartment two stories up.

Without my birding binoculars, I couldn’t

 

spot rings. No malice appeared on their faces. Most

likely I would’ve been bored with their conversation,

assuming bland patter and a stroll to the farmers

 

 market nearby to choose gladioli.

 I observed he was tall as they walked off in the predicted

direction. She held her arms oddly, not swinging at all,

 

just hanging at a slight angle from her sides

like a ready cowboy. It was almost more than I

could bear: the anemic print of the scene

 

 

Jean Biegun

 

 Jean Biegun’s poetry has appeared in over 100 journals, anthologies, art exhibits, and even in a gumball machine at a state poetry convention. In 2022, her chapbook HITCHHIKERS TO EDEN was published by Kelsay Books, she was nominated for a PUSHCART PRIZE by GYROSCOPE REVIEW, and awarded Best Prose Poem of 2021 by EASTERN IOWA REVIEW. Poems have appeared in ARIEL CHART, DOOR IS A JAR, MUDDY RIVER POETRY REVIEW, AS IT OUGHT TO BE, and many other places.