by Lisa Reynolds
Always so late in the day
you emerge
wearing the same crumpled khakis
and loose-fitting shirt.
While you stagger
through a sun-filled room,
eyes shielded by dark glasses,
I wait – spine straight in chair.
But your spirit doesn’t rise –
cutting words don’t flow from your lips,
only a low sigh, followed by
“Not today, Mom.”
And so, we sit and drink coffee
on opposite sides of thick walnut –
an unspoken truce between us
an unnatural quiet settling in.
Lisa Reynolds is a Canadian writer of poetry and short stories whose works are published internationally in anthologies, literary journals, and magazines. She lives in a waterfront community east of Toronto, Ontario. Sabiyha Prince is an anthropologist, artist, and author based in Washington, DC. Her books and essays explore urban change and African American culture, and her paintings and photo collages grapple with memory, identity, kinship and inequality.
Global Poemic 