Dismayed

 

Bloodwork was required: to assure:
despite my choosing to live
under the floorboards
………..it makes for a water-tight ceiling—
…………..this cozy feel
…………………I couldn’t shake off

Above ground that’s a whole other story.
Cars to dodge, people to steer clear of,
faces to forget despite remembering.

After careful consideration I chose my abode though
dampness was almost a deterrent
and the rodents, well,
…………that took some getting used to—

………..[A woman dismayed by life can find
………creature comforts in any small change of
……….direction or sudden bend in the road] – Anonymous

How I despised the crunching on chestnuts
from trees three hundred years old—
an adequate source of protein
for anyone giving up cannibalism.

 

 

 

 

Susan Tepper, a twenty-year writer, is the author of six published books of fiction and poetry, as well as hundreds of author interviews, book reviews, and essays. She has received nine Pushcart Prize Nominations, and a Pulitzer Nomination for her epistolary novel What May Have Been (Cervena Barva Press, 2010).
www.susantepper.com.