A feeble breeze
luffs the blind
like an impotent sail
August probes a tongue
at the edge of open
windows and doors
insistent cicadas
draw ragged lines on summer
and scrape at eardrums
inattentive
in the darkened bedroom
I surrender my head
to crossed arms
and the scent of old linen
beg for solitude and sleep
over the sound of lawn mowers
the opening of a car door
accompanies the silence
of a more familiar engine
he is home
and wants his dinner
©2006, Janet Taliaferro
“Summer Room” appeared in in Vol. 20 of “The Northern Virginia Review“
About Janet Taliaferro
I write novels, poetry, and short stories. In broad-brush terms, I have written about alcohol and drug addiction, and more importantly, recovery and the influence of twelve-step programs, incest, racial and religious tolerance, abortion, and war.
In previous lives I was a political activist and business owner and have remained an avid Planned Parenthood supporter over the years. I graduated from Southern Methodist University and hold a Master’s Degree in Creative Studies from the University of Central Oklahoma, where I received the Geoffrey Bocca Memorial Award for graduate writing.
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