The 3rd of my poems published by Verse-Virtual. There are so many beautiful poems in this issue. I’m honored to be among them.
Seaweed calligraphy at the tide’s edge.
A crab tracks through, smears the ink.
I wait for the fog to lift. The gulls argue
over someone’s sandwich crust, get on
with survival. I remember your words,
the undertow.
There’s the Fact,
and After the Fact –
the silence of a new apartment,
hugging the kids too hard,
watching them manipulate.
It’s his telling friends you took him
to the cleaners, cold stares
at soccer games.
After the fact
is buying hundred dollar jeans,
then eating ramen for a week,
lying about your age,
your weight. It’s wondering
if they’re mama’s boys
or gays still in the closet,
what to do with small talk,
stretch marks, settling for a 6
because you’re horny.
The Fact’s a piece of cake.
Sarah Russell
First published in Rusty Truck
I sit at the water’s edge,
draw circles in the sand.
It was almost too civil. Last night
we walked down the beach
to the crab shack,
tied bibs around our necks,
and over a bucket of clams and corn
decided who got what.
Circles, short-lived in the tide,
my wedding ring in the dresser drawer.
Sarah Russell
First published in Red Eft Review
Sarah Russell Poetry 