Persephone’s first day out
I came out to sit in the sluggish sun
after wandering all day
Inside. I washed two mugs of tea
and that was it. That was
All I could focus on.
And, the wifi was down
So, what is there left to do?
I poured wine into a mug
Because, why not? It’s bohemian.
And the mug’s clean. Anyway.
The bees are heavy this season
in my little garden.
There was no pollen to find in
November when winds rolled
Storms across the cold aspirations
of unreachable skies; so,
Who am I to swat at this bee
who has none to talk to.
I hear ya, sister. You and me
will share this red bottle
And shitpost online all night long
so that we have regrets
In the morning the size of peonies,
since neither of us have
Anyone else to talk to across
the fence, or on the phone
Or by the water cooler, or
while perambulating,
Or over cocktails after work,
or through long epistles,
Or through theses nailed to doors,
or by letters in bottles,
Or with family at Thanksgiving,
and certainly not by
Anonymous characters we
wrote into salacious
Books where we spill all tea
from our slow, sleepy town.
What saddens me is that the sun
sets so soon, and the little bee
Has worse time management than I.
She’s already gone back inside.
About the Author: Tamarah Rockwood obtained her degree in Creative Writing and Literature from Harvard University and is the Founder and CEO of Bainbridge Island Press. Rockwood has become a leader in western Washington organizing several local poetry events and communities, including Ars Poetica which brings poets and artists together, and Poetry Corners, through the Bainbridge Island Poet Laureate Program. She has served as Chairwoman of the Literary Committee at the prestigious Rainer Club in Seattle, having also served as the Wine Committee chair. She is the current President of ANHW, the Alumnae/i Network of Harvard Women through the Harvard Club of Seattle. She lives on Bainbridge Island, WA, with her husband and their five children.
Image Credit: Frederic Leighton “The Return Of Persephone (1891)” Public domain image courtesy of Artvee
As It Ought To Be 