In this issue
Edited by Deborah Fries
For
more information about
writing workshops offered by
the Cheltenham Township Adult School, contact:
Cheltenham Township Adult
School
1414 Panther Road
Wyncote, PA 19095
Phone: 215-887-1720
E. Twan Crawford
two poems
Vanishing Point
You pulled out a think white
cigarette, told me
to light it and
like a trained seal, I did. Expected
a reward, got
nothing. Except the reasons why
you were leaving
and what his name was, where
he lived in New
York and how long you had been
seeing him.
I was silent, my life for the last six years
ending. I had
no idea what to say or do. You looked
at me with
impatience, asking Well, do you have anything
to say? I
started to speak but my voice failed me.
You dropped your
smoke then crushed it under
your heel.
You rolled your marble green eyes and came
to me, the slow
breeze brought your redolence to my
nose, I can still
smell your scent. You kissed me and
without feeling
said I'm sorry. As you moved away
a word fell loose
from my clogged throat. Ring?
And then a few
more, strung together: Give me
the engagement
ring. Your face became an ugly
gash as you
struggled to remove the ring; once it was off,
you threw it at my
chest, it bounced off and hit
the ground. There
is stayed until you were almost gone
from sight. I
bent to one knee, picked up the ring
in a fistful of
gravel. I blew off the dirt. I knelt for
what seemed like
hours looking at it as if it would
speak. I
stood up and placed the ring in a zipper pocket
of my black leather
jacket. It stayed there for almost
a year before I
could take it out. Now it's in a jewelry
box on my dresser.
Buried in the bottom drawer.
I come across it
while searching for a tie clip or some
other ridiculous
thing I would never have worn then and
I think of you, and
the operatic love we once shared
and the fleeting
moments I thought would never end.
E. Twan S. Crawford is a photographer and musician living in Glenside. Fulltime, he is an IT director for a local advertising firm. He is exploring poetry and writing as other means of creative self expression.