|
Click title to download PDF microchap
Cover collage by JanK
•
Download every microchap
for free
from this website.
(Set printer for landscape)
|
What She Kept in Her Wallet
It was folded in thirds, a yellowed fraying bit
of newsprint from a local paper that noted
births, deaths and fiftieth anniversaries.
I recognized the names, a couple my mother
mentioned at holidays or when reminiscing
about school days in Nebraska or when she
was teaching, an old maid back then, scarred
from a car accident. She married late,
had me, late, and regarded her own fiftieth
anniversary as her greatest accomplishment.
Found at Mary’s Estate Sale: “Cosita,” 101/200, 1982
Optimistic, I anticipate finding something unique
to add to my collections of green depression glass
or handmade baskets. Mary was a neighbor,
a friend we drove to appointments. We arrive
at the sale late, rooms are bare, staff tallying
marks on sheets of paper. On a vacant bedroom
window sill, a perfect 2x2 inch framed print,
four tiny embossed flowers and a butterfly,
hand-painted in multi-colors. Little thing. I slip it
in my pocket and out again, happy to pay 50 cents.
|
What Happened to the Gold Bracelet
My Parents Gave Me on My Sixteenth Birthday
A piano-shaped jewelry box. Gold,
with a filigree pattern, red velvet
lining, a gift from my ex-husband
that I hated, the shape so kitschy
and childish. So like him to see me as a doll.
I left the earrings in it when my friends
had a sale. Not bothering to price anything,
I took offers and gave an okay to a man
who looked inside and, gleeful,
offered me five dollars.
The Missing Medal
I have it, my dad’s Bronze Star. It sits
in a porcelain box with blue flowers
on its lid. I sent my brother the gold
pocket watch but did not disclose
I had sold the coin collection,
my resentment at his escape
from the terrible decline of our
parents so strong I was willing
to lie, let him think that Duane,
a guy mother hired to help her,
had stolen it all.
•
Mary C. Rowin © 2019
|
Mary C. Rowin's poetry has appeared in publications such as Panopoly, Stoneboat, Hummingbird, Solitary Plover and Burningword Literary Journal.