Jennifer Wallace Poet Rhyme

Notes About The Poem

For those I have loved and lost—
your chairs may be empty, but your places in my heart remain forever filled.

The Enemy at My Table

My worst enemy has four worn feet,
a wooden back, a vacant stare;
it waits across from where I eat;
my oldest foe, the empty chair.

It does not shout or bare a blade;
its weapon is a vacant space.
It lets the happiest plans be made,
then wears a missing, cherished face.

It ambushes each holiday
and waits where laughter should have grown;
one glance can steal the room away
and remind me I am all alone.

It keeps the missing gathered there;
the dead, departed, those who fled;
what enemy could better wear
the living faces of the dead?

I hate it for the way it knows
which tender memory to employ;
it turns the smallest griefs to ghosts
and slips them underneath my joy.

I hate the victories it claims;
how birthdays bend beneath its weight;
how it can resurrect old names
and make the present sit and wait.

I’ve pushed it hard against the wall,
then filled the room with noise and cheer;
yet it can silence one and all
by simply being empty here.

No other foe has fought so well
without a fist, a voice, or breath;
it makes one absence rise and swell
until it fills the room with death.

For years, I gave that chair command
and let it choose which joys could stay;
it ruled my heart with unseen hands
and drove the living hours away.

Until I saw, with sudden dread,
the cruelest victory it won:
while mourning all the gone and dead,
I had become another one.

My enemy was not who left,
not every promise stripped and bare;
it was the way I stood bereft
and surrendered living to that chair.

So now I pull it near my side
and take the place that grief once claimed;
the chair remains, but I decide
whose living presence will be named.

Some absences still linger there;
some losses never disappear.
But I have faced the empty chair,
and filled its greatest void: I’m here.

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MOHIT MITRA September 8, 2026 at 10:49 PM Jennifer, jocund and judicious poet! What a 'darksome, dolorous' little triumph this is! Thy “The Enemy at My Table” takes the humblest of objects—the empty chair—and makes it a vessel for absence, memory, and grief, until that vacancy seems almost to breathe. 🤔 I was especially taken by how the chair gathers the dead, the departed, and the unfledged joys of the living—only for thy finest turn to arrive: 'the real enemy was not the chair, nor those who left, but surrendering the living hour to their absence.' 🙌 And that closing—“I’m here”—so wonderfully quiet, yet victorious. 🔥 Jubilant congratulations, Jennifer! Thy quill hath made absence sit down, only to teach the living how to remain. ✨

Simone Young September 1, 2026 at 11:45 AM These lines: So now I pull it near my side and take the place that grief once claimed; the chair remains, but I decide whose living presence will be named. Some absences still linger there; some losses never disappear. But I have faced the empty chair, and filled its greatest void: I’m here. ...are my favorite ones. They remind me so much of my own grief and the sadness I've experienced with family members. Congrats on a beautiful, winning poem!💕

Gary Radice August 31, 2026 at 1:17 PM Another superb write Jennifer. Congratulations on your win in Margarita’s contest. Cheers - Gary

Sara Kendrick August 31, 2026 at 10:29 AM I can understand the grief to a certain extent, but I can never know exactly what each individual person in grief does feel, Jennifer. You have written a wonderful telling work in this one and it touch my heart since my husband died 10 months ago, I am facing our wedding anniversary, which is the first one since his death, when it passes, I will have gone through all the holidays, etc. except the anniversary of his death. At times my heart aches, but it is getting better. 👏✍️. Enjoyed..Sara K.

Margarita Lillico August 28, 2026 at 7:58 PM Congratulations, Jennifer! From the opening sentence to the final revelation - a perfect poignant entry! It is flawless on all poetic criteria. It tells the story, figures of speech eloquently support its substance and it flows in a smooth rhythmic pace! Thank you. M Jennifer Wallace August 29, 2026 at 5:55 PM Thank you so much! I truly feel honored and appreciate your support and kind words!!