The red sky is a warning
that I choose to ignore
leaving the yellow umbrella you gave me
in the stand with the old walking stick
that belongs to someone I no longer know
outside the wren sounds
her teakettle alarm
loud and red and insistent as the stamps
on all the overdue bills
left piling up on your desk
and just as I reach the hospice the rain starts
I’ve painted my lips like a letterbox
so I can let all the kindnesses people offer
slip soundlessly through the slot
to be returned at a later date
a bit like your overdue library books
you are nestled in the over large bed
like a Christmas walnut
as I lay down next to you your breath stills
and I’m left alone
listening to the dull rhythm of the rain beating me
inside and out
Adele Evershed
Adele Evershed has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Adele's published work includes two poetry chapbooks, Turbulence in Small Places (Finishing Line Press), The Brink of Silence (Bottlecap Press), a novella-in-flash, Wannabe (Alien Buddha Press), and a short story collection, Suffer/Rage (Dark Myth Publisher).
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