To SHARE a cozy spot,
To REVEL in a tiny gesture,
A slight adjustment to a BERET:
The sweetness of new love

Georg’ann

THICK slices of eggplant generously sprinkled with salt
sit on paper towels beginning their SWEAT.
While waiting for them to release excess moisture
I pull out on old photo album
the 1989 overseas study in Dijon, France.
Pages of picnics, canals, windows,
gardens, grey cows, fountains, stained glass,
chateau after chateau, a train DEPOT.
Laughing, dancing, traveling
with people I’ll never see again.

The last page, return visit at my mother’s.
There’s a softness in these pictures, a slight blur on everything,
as the sunlight moves through the airy curtains
reflects on the hardwood floors. Sparsely furnished
my brother sits on a small creaky armless rocking chair.
He’s 8, so joyous this day. Sister home, kitten in his lap.
Child’s beaming face with an impish grin, twinkling eyes.
Resting on brown curls, a perfectly cocked black BERET.

Heather