You talk to him
as if you care, rest
your fingers on his wrist,
touch him
longer
than needed. No!
You are the woman
lulled to sleep
in my arms,
My arms. Holding
you like Diego’s lilies
and now you turn
your back
on me. I’m close enough
to hear you lay
one word on top
another, holding back
a consonant
so he will want to dig.
What drawls in your bones
shakes my insides.
—
Chella Courington is a writer and teacher whose poems and stories appear in numerous anthologies and journals including Spillway, The Collagist, and The Los Angeles Review. Her novella, Adele and Tom: The Portrait of a Marriage, is forthcoming from Breaking Rules Publishing. Originally from the Appalachian South, Courington lives in California with another writer. Visit her website at chellacourington.net