Only the Lonely
Published in
Oct 10, 2022
A free verse poem modeled after Edip Cansever’s “The Table”, as prompted in How to Grow Your Own Poem by Kate Clanchy
A woman,
laden with the day’s debris,
comes home
and drops her bag on the bed.
Her phone with its scuffed case,
her blue pashmina shawl—
she drops those too.
The clicking of the keyboard
and the monitor’s cold glare
clink against the car keys hiding
beneath the pillow’s scalloped edge.
She drops that slice
of raspberry cheesecake she craved,
the welts from her tight, new shoes
and U2 belting on the radio,
“I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
She unfolds her longing,
spreads it out on top,
and yawning,
wraps herself in it.
The bed sighs,
sinks a little
beneath her weight
while outside,
the moon nuzzles
the blushing five finger tree.
