Wednesday, December 12, 2018

New Widow by Martha Christina

She shuffles
her late husband’s
marked deck,
lays out another
game of solitaire
on the kitchen table.

She knows which
face-down card is
the 5 of Diamonds,
the Ace of Spades,
the King of Hearts,
but she doesn’t
cheat, even alone.

She loses again,
so she shuffles again,
lays out another round.

She thinks of Edward
Hopper, his skill
at turning loneliness
into something more.

How much
time and work
that took. Takes.



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 Star 82 Review, and Crab Orchard Review. She has published two collections: Staying Found (Fleur-de-lis Press) and Against Detachment (Pecan Grove Press).

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