it was after the war
that she reassembled things
sour tomatoes at the end of their brittle vine
it was after the carnage
and the raking of flesh
that she found herself alone
released like a nubile youth
except she wasn’t
the starting over wasn’t so bad
since everything she left
reminded her of him
sour tomatoes tasting the earth
pilgrimage of landlord interviews
dry roads of groaning neighborhoods
families splashing their lives in her face
until the last road to the tiny cottage
where she put everything in its place
her floors were clean
where her heart was mauled
her condiments organized
where her brain was scrambled
her windows sparkled
where her eyes were marred
and she grew a new garden
buried the war everyday with her spade
worked until her back ached
and the garden was clean of the enemy
this patch was all she had left
to put her fingers into
all she had that she could keep from dying
combat the memory bombs
grow sweet tomatoes
to pick
before they could turn brown
and spit sour mash
to reap
before they lost the war
2 comments
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November 17, 2011 at 5:24 am
empressalice
This is really good. I absolutley loved it! Thankyou. Search for beauty and stay true
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November 17, 2011 at 8:33 pm
iwrite11
Thank you for reading and for your lovely comment. I look forward to going to your blog as well. With smiling eyes, Maurine
masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausing–Anonymous Maurine Killough – 816 E 4th Avenue San Mateo, CA 94401-3317 (650) 344-1403 – Cell (650) 766-9402 see some of my poetry and musings at: https://iwritemyself.wordpress.com/ See our Sonoma Place at http://www.smilingeyestribe.com
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