Tag: short story

Sacrifice

As Lanie strolled along the tree lined pathways that meandered through the urban park, she often imagined living in one of the apartments overlooking the venue. One with a balcony where a wide array of plants in multi-colored pots competed for their place in the sun.

Of course she knew there were times when the goings on in the park might distract from her peace. The solstices, when virgins were offered up in exchange for safe passage between the seasons, would be particularly messy. Better, perhaps, to stay in her current dwelling, where the only inconvenience might be the occasional burglary.

The Chrysanthemums

John Steinbeck’s short story, The Chrysanthemums, is one of my favorites and the inspiration for this poem. I’ve linked to the story below, and if you’ve never read it, I hope my poem encourages you to do so. I really hope it doesn’t discourage you! That would be awful!

Eliza’s Fate

She looked forward
to the small pleasures
after all:
ladybugs and
budding flowers,
the songs of
passing birds,
the smell of lilacs
in the spring.
What else was
meant for her
she’d never know,
but perhaps
this was it.

Most days she
thought nothing
of the lacks
in her life.
Most days she just
went through the motions.
Most days she felt
it was enough.

But.

Other days she
privately railed
against the sameness.
Other days she cried
silently in the kitchen.
Other days she felt the
absence of color.

When he rode through,
that stranger, speaking
in a familiar way,
her need clawed raw and
subversive. Embolding.
What if today? Maybe he?
She dared the unthinkable
opened herself to him.
Like chrysanthemums,
of little consequence.

http://thereycenter.org/uploads/3/4/3/2/3432754/the_chysanthemums-steinbeck.pdf

 

These are actually called Steinbeck’s Crysanthemums. How about that?