After a painting by Hiro Yamagata, “Poet”
Somewhere in this landscape
the poet watches. It’s fall,
but an early snow flurry
blankets the park. A busker
playing an undisclosed
instrument attracts a crowd.
Days are shorter now; shadows
grow. Perhaps the poet sits
on that bench in front of
the building with the Juliet
balconies. Perhaps the poet
stands behind one of those
balconies, in a darkened room,
holding a glass of Malbec.
Is the fireplace unlit? Perhaps
the poet is drinking Malbec
after arguing with her husband.
Does the husband know he is
wrong? Contrite, does he stand
next to her, looking out
the window at the busker,
the crowd, the running children,
the long shadows and golden
leaves about to fall? Does he
whisper an apology, kiss her?
Do they make love then
while dinner gets cold?
Pat Valdata is a poet and fiction writer. Her book about pioneering women aviators, Where No Man Can Touch, won 2015 Donald Justice Poetry Prize. A revised edition was published in June 2023 by Wind Canyon Books. She has three published novels and is writing another. She lives in Crisfield with her husband Bob Schreiber and their rescue poodle, Junior.