The last guest who goes on and on
is gone. Hearing the same stories again
is like listening to long poems
in a foreign language. Our ears ring
as our guest talks like a drill sergeant
who never pauses, megaphone
loud. Now that he’s gone, we move
about without speaking, picking up
this, adjusting that. Then we head
outside to sit on porch rockers,
hot tea in hands,
surrounded by lilac
and the spicy scent of gardenias.
We watch cars freely speed by in the dull night.
Our minds center on bed
and the blanket’s comfort—
the affectionate rhythm
of that other known body,
while the soapy, silent moon
gives what slender, tired light
it can.
The Talker
M.E. SILVERMAN editor of Blue Lyra Review, moved from New Orleans to Georgia to teach at Gordon State College. His work has appeared in over 65 publications, including Crab Orchard Review, 32 Poems, Hawai’i Pacific Review, Many Mountains Moving, The Southern Poetry Anthology, and The Los Angeles Review. M.E. Silverman was a finalist for the 2008 New Letters Poetry Award, the 2008 DeNovo Contest and the 2009 Naugatuck River Review Contest. He is working on editing a contemporary Jewish anthology with Deborah Ager forthcoming in 2013 from Continuum, and he is a member of the board of 32 Poems.