Autumn Back Home

You opened the side door,
it was autumn back home,
something said you might love me,
the way i wanted it then,
and we drove around the countryside,
while your phone just kept ringing,
and you put it aside.

A man's voice was yelling,
on the old answering machine,
saying
"What are you doing?"
and you turned it down low.....

I came back to see you three more times,
right before
my daddy died,
and everytime i left
I sat down and cried,

til one day you told me
the man's jealousy roared
making you miserable,
it couldn't be ignored,

then I saw you for one fleeting 
moment,
a hug on the cusp
of summer solstice,

that steady rock of winter
once more dissolved
like a ghost
of a Christmas past,

I saw your Hawaiian shirt
a banner of color,
a relentless enigma
in the corner
of daddy's funeral,

til you said if we had breakfast
it would have to be on route one,
tucked away from any eyes
who might tell

that raging voice
on the phone
with the accent
from South America
that you just might
have a secret.

Copyright © Kathryn Sweeney | Year Posted 2023

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