May
10, 1994. DeKalb
I
I brew
coffee,
sit on the front porch steps
Tim stops
to say hi,
asks if I've seen the solar eclipse
"Sort of,
I was outside Randy's at noon,
it was dark out,
but I had nothing to look through
and anyway, Mark, Randy and I
were distracted by some ducks
walking towards us
in the driveway"
Tim hands
me
a piece of dark glass
from a welding mask,
says I can still catch
the last glimpse
I find
a spot clear of branches
and look
at the sun
Tim goes
home.
I sit on the steps
and sip my coffee
II
A white
car pulls up
The mad
voice of a female
yells at a guy in a baseball hat
Grateful
Dead stickers are slapped
on the rear
of the car
and the woman
has butter-blonde hair
She's crying
He yells
back,
"I don't want to break up
with you
I don't want
to fucking break up
with you"
They drive
away
I hold
my yellow mug,
watch the multi-colors
of the Dead stickers
become small
Then, for
a split-second,
I'm crying, too
Copyright © 2001 Jennifer Esther Glickstein
