Personal Losses
Soberanes Fire 2016
White cotton nightgown, floor-length, on the peg behind
the bedroom door, the lace collar having tattered years ago.
On the cabin’s one sturdy table, a spoonful of honey in a cup,
the cup on a saucer, kettle on the stove set to boil come morning.
His unlaced hiking boots beside the front door.
An open window, shade lifted, the whole night coming in.
Her grandmother’s dangling earrings that she wished for as a child,
the ones with the seed pearls.
Dog-eared page midway through the paperback novel.
A closet shelf full of journals in floral script, counting
the years backwards.
Footbridge crossed. Exit plan taken.
Patrice Vecchione’s most recent book is Step into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life (Simon & Schuster). Her other books include another nonfiction book Writing and the Spiritual Life: Finding Your Voice by Looking Within, two collections of poems, The Knot Untied and Territory of Wind, as well as several anthologies for young people and adults including Catholic Girls and Truth & Lies. Also a collage artist, Patrice leads collage and writing workshops. On the weekend of November 5 -6 she will perform her multi-media, one-woman show, Words Dressed & Undressed: Women, Clothing, Identity & Aging at The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts in Carmel and in Santa Cruz in February. More at patricevecchione.com.
Soberanes Fire 2016
White cotton nightgown, floor-length, on the peg behind
the bedroom door, the lace collar having tattered years ago.
On the cabin’s one sturdy table, a spoonful of honey in a cup,
the cup on a saucer, kettle on the stove set to boil come morning.
His unlaced hiking boots beside the front door.
An open window, shade lifted, the whole night coming in.
Her grandmother’s dangling earrings that she wished for as a child,
the ones with the seed pearls.
Dog-eared page midway through the paperback novel.
A closet shelf full of journals in floral script, counting
the years backwards.
Footbridge crossed. Exit plan taken.
Patrice Vecchione’s most recent book is Step into Nature: Nurturing Imagination and Spirit in Everyday Life (Simon & Schuster). Her other books include another nonfiction book Writing and the Spiritual Life: Finding Your Voice by Looking Within, two collections of poems, The Knot Untied and Territory of Wind, as well as several anthologies for young people and adults including Catholic Girls and Truth & Lies. Also a collage artist, Patrice leads collage and writing workshops. On the weekend of November 5 -6 she will perform her multi-media, one-woman show, Words Dressed & Undressed: Women, Clothing, Identity & Aging at The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts in Carmel and in Santa Cruz in February. More at patricevecchione.com.