Midnight, 1960

The lamp's yellow halo
paints my mother's dark curls.
Smoke swirls around her face
as she reads, a tea pot in its cozy,
rose-painted cup and saucer near.
Pall Mall butts lie discarded
in the ashtray, tipped with Avon's
latest red. Settled in the book,
she raises delicate fingers
to her pink tongue, dabs a sliver
of tobacco from its tip. Never
taking her eyes from the pages
cradled in her lap, she lives
another life. My father
snores, rooms away, unaware
of the change taking place
in the cooling, midnight air.

* * * * *

"Midnight, 1960" is from Joani Reese's collection Night Chorus (Lit Fest Press, 2015).

Joani Reese writes poems, CNF, personal essays, and flash fiction. She has had two poetry chapbooks published.  LitFestPress published her full-length, mixed genre book, Night Chorus, in 2015. She has won a few awards. Reese lives and works in Texas and is owned by a number of recalcitrant cats.