Before
the sun slid around the house
light on window frame
the dresser
the side of the cross
she looked down
for the umpteenth time
but could not see
for tears
he picked up his pen
but the words slurred
on the paper
as if in a dream
she fed him a spoonful
movements mechanical
from some place better
than her heart
he could not speak
warmed her with
his smiling eyes
sun slipping by
finding no words
she looked through the window
at moonlit trees
indistinct but beautiful
Jane Keenan has been writing poems since the age of six, and has already contributed to Amethyst Review and All Shall Be Well: Poems for Julian of Norwich. She met Susan Brice and Viv Longley on the Open University’s MA course in creative writing. In 2022 the three friends published Daughters of Thyme. (www.dotipress.com) and are now compiling a sister volume, Home Thyme. Jane lives in the Scottish Borders with her beautiful dog, Wellington.
Amethyst Review 