Thank You

when serendipity seemed merely a word in a world of bare futile meaning in plain English my grandma’s ‘you never know what it will be good for’ appeared to be no more than kitchen wisdom on the back of an eventful life acceptance sounds hollow when the echo is vacant she peeled potatoes when the earth shattered dreams in air raids and ruins made hay when the sun would not shine on a horizon of loss and defeat no lemons for lemonade in those days only substitute coffee and hunger ‘boy when you’re older you will see through the smoke’ she was long dead when my ex pulled the rugs from under my weary feet oriental carpets became threadbare under constant assault abuse and denial when communication fell silent and projection hit me as the vulnerable target helpless depressed abandoned and clearly better dead than staggering forth ‘it’s all wrong and solely your fault but I won’t tell you why’ with my fuel running past reserve and the fuse ready for gas oven’s safety the noose fastened on rafters of dread and the rope checked for tight grip armed with nothing left unable to write my own eulogy for lack of resolve my eyes fell on a pointless bottle and I shattered the glass into future shards I am grateful for venom and false guilt laid at my trap door thank you ‘dear ex’ for opening my eyes to a world of deceit and false promise gratitude is giving credit to hardship I found new love because of your hatred 31st October 2020 Thanksgiving Poetry Contest Sponsor Regina McIntosh