Coffee in Columbus

"I believe that I am shrivelling here," she says.
I nod. I'm sure she's right. She looks up
From the mug of coffee served in this
Unsung cafe a good way from her side
Of town. Her eyes look strange. They're
Not made up. Her face is pale. She wears
A sweatshirt, something she would not
Have worn when we were lovers years ago.
I took her call with great surprise.
We hadn't spoken in the years, six or five,
I can't remember, since she said that she
Would marry, and that she was moving
From the city to this middling town,
A poor and rather forlorn place one
Hundred miles away. "Don't get me wrong.
Dave's good to me. The people on our
Street are nice. It's just that no one
Reads a book, except the Bible. No
One seems to find it worth her while
To think or know herself. It's TVs on,
And brains shut off. It's high school
Sports and church retreats. It's..."
"Well, you know, you could have stayed."
"You said yourself that we were through."
I had, and she'd concluded that the
Time had come to get away. Then
As now, I'd known that she was right.



Poetry by Lawrence Beck The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 45 times
Written on 2017-11-28 at 18:23

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