Shelley:
November 3, 1965
June 11, 2016
“Adieu, but let me cherish,
The hope with which I cannot part
contempt may wound, and coldness chill
But still, it lingers in my heart.”
Farewell by Anne Brontë
mourners filed into your home
gathered
around a table's harsh surface
in the dining room—
intended for birthdays
Thanksgiving Christmas—
gutting fish
shrouded in a makeshift cloth
instead of a boning knife
razor sharp
stockpiled photographs lay
two-inch thick faded heaps—
you—
Miss University of Florida
smile from a float
hold your bouquet —
dark roses
over your satin sash
over your heart-sounds
at the beach
tipped chin
brown eyes
deny rain
your smile
perched atop the grand canyon
refuses to wilt
free-falls all the way down
the color of your sore throat
fringed in distressed mahogany
wishing today was your birthday—
you’d blow out candles
in front of me
gusts blast through windows
winter storms july
your jigsaw-puzzle life
trembles
unlike never before
I hear your silence—
weightless
as a fly’s wing
the sound of your gun
About the Author: Andi (Andrea) Horowitz is an older emerging poet who lives in Fort Myers, FL., with her husband and their two cairn terriers, BeCa and Bleecker. She taught high school English and speech and was also the drama coach. Her students remain one of her life’s greatest gifts. Andrea can be read in VARIANT LIT, STONE PACIFIC, NEW NOTE, GRIFFEL MAG. and others. She has a manuscript titled: tasted lies, misnomers, and balderdash in chicken soup at a fine hotel serving cheap champagne coming out later this year. Andrea dreams of a world devoid of stains.
Image Credit: Adriana Johanna Haanen “Still life of roses on mossy ground” Public domain image courtesy of Artvee
As It Ought To Be 