wish

I wish you hadn’t done that.
Looked across the bar at me
and stared as you sipped your beer.
I felt like a specimen, trashy,
with too much jewelry
and too little sobriety.
I wish you hadn’t smiled like that,
slowly. A grin spreading across your face
like a bit of paper picked up by a breeze.
I had no choice. I smiled back
and oddly studied my own glass,
the beer foam drying around the rim,
as though I were begging for a refill.
Really, I wish you hadn’t.

(written at the High Desert Retreat, October 2010)

Comments

  1. Gasp ... you were drinking ... a BEER?!? I don't know what to believe in anymore, expect maybe that “wish” is a mighty fine poem.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ha! That wasn't really me. The "I" needed to be drinking a beer so there would be dried foam on the glass. Cider and wine: no foam. Also, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. For the record, that’s called “lacing” in the parlance ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am glad I was there to witness the process of your writing such a great poem. You are a poet Jeanette!

    XOXO

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  5. I so enjoy your way with words, J, in poetry and prose. I am lucky I can hear this in your voice. Thanks for capturing such a quietly momentous tipping point (tippling point too). And thanks for putting you writing out there.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Really nice... love your work, as we say down here. Now I'm going to have to work out how this internet and blogging stuff works so I can follow you. -Eric F

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks, Eric. Wish I could be of help with the following thing. I have blogs I follow, but don't recall how exactly I did that... :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts