Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Fall

 

How cozy that morning

when the deer were in the yard

at daybreak,

soft glow from a book light,

coffee cup in hand.

 

How forgettable

after all that’s passed—

when the floors heaved

and rocks grew up through the boards.

 

When everything shook,

even the air rippled too warmly

around my head,

 

my ears hammering,

tuned in to ghosts

screeching in the hollow, to

the scream that

happens before the crash and echoes

ever after,

 

when my veins stopped

cold,

flatlined,

 

in the bite

of

your

words.

 

 

© 2024 Jennifer Wagner

 

 

2 comments:

  1. I think I may have whiplash from that segue way between the first and second stanzas. Just once have i seen deer in my yard, one misty Sunday morning. It was so peaceful. Your opening brought that to mind and then pow! which must be what the speaker was feeling in the rest of this. Some things, once said, can never be taken back or expunged from one's heart. I am very sorry if you are going through something right now, Jen.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ahhhhh. That this were just a poem ~

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your thoughts!