Poetry

Daydream
by Elinor Gale
Haibun (written for Diane Frank's OLLI class--
"The Gentle Art of Haibun and Haiku")
On a wintry afternoon, I sit with my daughter in the café. She has covered me in blankets and moves my wheelchair so I can look out the window. We sip warm cocoa, chocolate tickling my tongue, and watch trees bend beneath the heavy rain. A man in a heavy winter jacket and wool cap hunches his shoulders, steering his chair against the wind across the patio. Old fool! He'll catch cold!
 
I know that man. I tell my daughter he's my second husband. She frowns and asks, "What? You had a second husband?"
 
I tell her yes, but then I wonder. I ask my daughter, "Who was my first husband?" She leans toward me and strokes my cheek. She tells me his name, Samuel. She says Samuel and I were married for 54 years.
 
“Fifty four years?" I ask. "Then, when was I married to my second husband?”
 
“Beats me,” she says, “I wasn’t invited to the wedding."
diamonds float from trees
tumble into twilight,
melting beyond fingertips.
About Elinor Gale
click to read Bio
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​Elinor Gale has been a writer, observer of human nature, and lover of the English language since childhood. An inveterate eavesdropper, she has woven her curiosity about human behavior into her work as writing teacher, editor and creator of humorous yet poignant fiction and poetry. She holds a B.A. in English from Smith College and an M.S. in Counseling from Northeastern University. Her essays, poetry and articles have been published in print and online. Elinor moved to the Bay Area from New England 20 years ago and still marvels at flowers and green grass in February.
Other works by Elinor in this issue:
I Fed Her Blueberries ​(Poetry)
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​The Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and visual arts by members of OLLI at SF State.
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​The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University​ provides material support to the Vistas & Byways volunteer staff.