She is a poem of his heart
He never disclosed
In front of anyone.

I wish you all
most pleasant days
   no matter what the virus says

and that the year 2022
brings out the best
for me and you

      think positive, test negative

a better New Year to you all
reach for the skies, try not to fall !!

Because he was filled with light
May his star help the beleaguered on-
dark , unsure nights ...

In the cloudy evenings with strong hints of rain
You heard them once and you heard them again
The air would rend with their cacophony
The torrents would send them in ecstatic glee.
Even a few years back you could find them around
The harbinger of monsoon with harsh croaking sound
On your yard and garden in quite large packs
Frolicking for insects, the great jumping Jacks.
They scoured the marshland in search for food
Calling in monotone and setting you to brood
With your mind gnawed by the incessant rains
That rattled your thoughts and the glass window panes.
But then lands were devoured by the human sharks
Soon disappeared open spaces and parks
Came up apartments and rows of house
Urban growth you accept without grouse.
Now in the lonely evenings with fair hints of rain
The rains will be back but you won’t hear them again
Their habitats are gone there aren’t left any bogs
And with these are gone your neighborhood frogs.

She bought this light green chair at an estate sale, with a red pillow as an accoutrement she smiled like a young child; proud of her find, all I could do was smile back, afraid to hurt her feelings, you hate it she said, I can tell-would it make you want it more if I told you it was from Ernest Hemingway's estate, such a find- I  was in a bidding war with another woman, I purchased it for you

its been a couple years hence, sitting in my light green chair, she knew it was the perfect chair, to do my writing, she would smile, if she could see me here, shades of the writer that I am

time to move on, all the memories left- I sold everything; never though, would I sell the light green chair with the red pillow, as it reminds me of her always


By Michael Perry