Tuesday 13 February 2018

November Widow

by Ruth Lehrer


My neighbor is hiding
never leaving the hilltowns
only going to the dump
once a month surviving
on dry cereal

Her husband died last summer
before the snow and shooting
loss stranding her alone with the news
He might not have
agreed with her anyway

In the wake of the election
she scrawls crayon words of protest—
Trump You’re Fired—
sticks it on the blackberry brambles
near the pothole road

She locks her doors and
suspects the neighbors
She lost her hair from chemo
It never grew back.


* * * * *

Ruth Lehrer is a writer and sign language interpreter in western Massachusetts. She is the author of a poetry chapbook entitled Tiger Laughs When You Push. She is also the author of a 2017 young adult novel, Being Fishkill

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