Our Last Night

golden shovel after Carolyn Kizer’s “The Skein”  

I couldn’t bear to cry, not the seeping tears, but oh,
the tsunamic sobs tearing the esophagus, the remnants of love
left after the heartbreak, the eruption—the long 
high desert of hope gone—
curled blooms killed by the salt it
left on the bed, kitchen counter, sofa. Is
my twisted, swollen face raining
still? The siege has passed in
that blackest of nights when our
marriage fled that encrusted room.

TERRIE ELAINE JOPLIN

Terrie Elaine Joplin taught English in public schools in Illinois, North Carolina, and Washington, and holds an MS in education and National Board Certification. Her work appears in Pteranodon, ONE ART, and MER Online Folio. Terrie and her husband reside in Mamaroneck, New York, with her daughter’s family and four cats.