October Light

by Jane Kretschmann


There is a sadness
in these late afternoons.
Yards darken, shadows gloom.

A woman coming home
reaches for a sweater
before beginning supper,

then stands at the counter,
as though reluctant to feel
the refrigerator’s chill.

She doesn’t move at all
to baste the beef, boil
a vegetable, dress a salad.

The doctor’s report weighs
on her mind. In the darkening
room, she avoids slicing

the raw meat, anesthetized
by the cold light
invading the kitchen.
 

* * * * *

"October Light" was previously published in Jane K. Kretschmann's chapbook, Imagining a Life, published by FootHills Publishing.

Jane K. Kretschmann lives in Piqua, Ohio, where she retired from the local community college. Her poetry has been published in print and online as well as broadcast on radio. Jane's current projects involve creating a readers' theatre script based on poems in her chapbook titled Lynching Alabama and writing a book for the New Testament, titled The Epistles of Lydia of Thyatira.