After Mourning
by Paulette Demers Turco

Till she met him, she planned to die–
prepared to join her spouse. That’s why
she cleaned her closets, wrote her will,
discarded any useless frill.
She couldn’t be convinced to buy

beyond essentials. She’d deny
listening for favorite songs, yet try
each dusk to hear the whippoorwill–
till she met him.

She’d never been one to comply
with social expectations. Shy
when widowed years before, the thrill
of being held those years was still
so real, new dawns escaped her eye–
till she met him.



 

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