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105th Weekly Poetry Contest winner: If I Had Three Lives

by Sarah Russell

              After "Melbourne" by the Whitlams
 
If I had three lives, I'd marry you in two.
And the other?  That life over there 
at Starbucks, sitting alone, writing -- a memoir, 
maybe a novel or this poem.  No kids, probably, 
a small apartment with a view of the river, 
and books -- lots of books and time to read.  
Friends to laugh with; a man sometimes, 
for a weekend, to remember what skin feels like 
when it's alive.  I'm thinner in that life, vegan, 
practice yoga.  I go to art films, farmers markets, 
drink martinis in swingy skirts and big jewelry.  
I vacation on the Maine coast and wear a flannel shirt
weekend guy left behind, loving the smell of sweat 
and aftershave more than I do him.  I walk the beach 
at sunrise, find perfect shell spirals and study pockmarks 
water makes in sand.  And I wonder sometimes 
if I'll ever find you.

                                      First published in Silver Birch Press

 

See all the entrants to 105th Weekly Poetry Contest