“How’s your husband?” the man
selling fruit and berries from his
orchard asks. We haven’t seen
each other since October when
he left to winter in Florida, and
your prognosis was for a quick
recovery. So I have to say again
the words I’ve had to say for
months, and he kindly offers
condolences with his nectarines.
I buy a bag and move on, past
the man selling fish, the woman
promising rugalah like her Nana’s,
another offering the first sweet
corn of the season, and the recent
divorcee making lemonade, her
husband still alive and a worry.
I pick up my farm-share from
the woman who reminded you
of our daughter, and who gives
me a weekly hug because she
knows fresh produce only goes
so far.
And all the while, this week’s
live music drifts over and
around me: guitar and harp,
a husband and wife duo.
Martha Christina is a frequent contributor to Brevities. Longer work appears in Innisfree Poetry Journal, Naugatuck River Review, earlier postings of Red Eft Review, and most recently in the anthology Ice Cream Poems from World Enough Writers. She has published two collections: Staying Found (Fleur-de-lis Press) and Against Detachment (Pecan Grove Press).
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