It's Still Life

The Day Lona Left Her Husband

We’re not apt to
see each other again, she said,
and although I knew that was true,
it felt blunt and raw.
Perhaps I always knew our friendship
was going one direction.

Friendships are rarely uncomplicated,
ours was tangled
and often unravelling,
we entrusted secrets to
pots of coffee,
always there when needed.
Yes, I think I loved her.

But I think she loved horses more.
She rode them, and talked to them.
And while the freedom of hoofbeats
filled her ears each day,
I was at my desk,
the Belgium Consulate –
visas, births and deaths.

But I always fell off horses.
Bicycles, too. I once
fell off a fence.

Sometimes I lose the balance of things.

I have a Calder on the wall.
It reminds me of her.
When she saw it she said,

“What’s that supposed to be?”

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NaPoWriMo Day 21: write a poem in which you first recall someone you used to know closely but are no longer in touch with, then a job you used to have but no longer do, and then a piece of art that you saw once and that has stuck with you over time. Finally, close the poem with an unanswerable question, and Writers’ Digest “write a Sound poem” Image: A Girl Watering a Horse by David Burliuk. ©Misky 2022 Shared with #amwriting #glopowrimo #napowrimo on Twitter