Time
Initially, lilac Sundays at the arboretum,
with a red-winged blackbird.
Then Jon walks me home
neighborhoods out of his way. Romance
novels and some years later, sex—
then space travel.
The story of any life, unbalanced—
even the pigeons stayed drunk, the jays.
Almost true love in a midnight field
and once, in the open light
of Table Mountain.
In a grove of mock orange.
Blooming.
On my route home, unaccompanied
from the bar, no one
would bother a singing, drunk, me—mad
curls tucked inside my torn coat
dancing solo to Duran Duran’s, Girls on Film.
I did not yet know
that joy would come
not in the paradisal promise
of coupledom and children—
but the body beautiful healing and alone.
Susan Rich is the author of eight books which have earned awards from PEN USA, the Fulbright Foundation, and Peace Corps Writers. Her most recent books include Blue Atlas from Red Hen Press and Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Selected Poems from Salmon Poetry. Along with Kelli Russell Agodon, she co-edited Demystifying the Manuscript: Essays and Interviews on Creating a Book of Poems. Her poems have appeared in Harvard Review, O Magazine, Ploughshares, and The Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day. Based in Seattle, Susan teaches at Highline College and directs Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Writing Retreat for Women. Birdbrains: A Lyrical Guide to Washington State Birds is due out from Raven Chronicles Press. Her favorite sweet is a tie between small batch ice cream and the idea of candy floss.
