twenty years you’ve been gone &
that’s just how long you’ve been dead
in life you were gone, too
i was a pool you’d drown in
if you got your feet wet
you kept your feet dry
how hard to hold the truth
like a bitter seed under your tongue
at the end you spit it out
i’d guessed what you said before
your tongue stilled for good
i had eyes
i said i forgave you
it was my turn to lie
Photo by James Barr on Unsplash
Anne Leigh Parrish
Award-winning writer Anne Leigh Parrish’s next novel, an open door, will be published in October 2022 by Unsolicited Press. Recent titles from Unsolicited Press are the moon won’t be dared, a poetry collection, October 2021, and a winter night, a novel, released in March 2021. She is the author of seven other books. She has recently ventured into the art of photography and lives in the South Sound Region of Washington State. Find her online at her website, Twitter, Facebook, Medium, Instagram, Linked In, and Goodreads.
