Beyond the Milestone






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  Visit her woefully outdated, soon-to-be-resurrected blog, Vagabond Poet, at http://karlalinn.blogspot.com.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.

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