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July 12, 2017

A Lifetime. {Poem}

A man over 50

years wiser than I
reaches for a hand
that is no longer there.

He is frozen over
with the chilled air of loneliness,
urging for a love
that has not graced his soul
in oh-so-many years.

Memories of her
are scattered among the
cracked floorboards
and this house’s familiar creeks
are no longer sounds of
home—
but rather, the uncertain ticking of
his time, slowly running out.

She still falls between the bedsheets
after the laundry’s been done,
yet she leaves no trace
as he folds the quilt back
over her side.

He pokes at the fire,
finding her eyes in the embers.
He is cold, though the flames roar
in the silent evening.

A grandfather clock stands tall in the hallway.
It chimes on the hour,
and, with each sound,
the man grows 60 minutes closer.

~

Author: Jasmine Peteran 
Image: Maxpixel
Editor: Leah Sugerman
Copy Editor: Sara Kärpänen
Social Editor: Catherine Monkman

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