R.M. Dolin, December 3, 2024
There’s a freedom in writing when
you won’t respond letting me think
about tomorrow. Your straight-line smile
as I open the door. The tender way
my fingers flow through strands
of hair hiding hesitant eyes.
The reticent way you start your story.
You seem so bold and confident
as we settle on the couch to cuddle
making every effort to mask
a sudden uncertainty.
An awkwardness that breathes
into every breath as it nervously
avoids each reveal.
Then the tables turn as you ask
about me. You never ask
about me. Perhaps from fear
of tarnishing what could be.
But now you do and then
we must decide.
How will we?
That’s the unexplored question
when we meet
making things dangerously dicey.
From the R. M. Dolin novel, “An Unsustainable Life.” Issac pensively imagines his upcoming date with Gabriella as he sits alone in an empty room full of people. Written north of Detroit as I watch an early winter storm blow snow across my lakefront window.
