While You Are in Colorado by Beth Gordon

All my words dry up like lemon
slices left in the sun.  Mummified
yellow circles with no juice or shine.
I wander the tidy spaces of this
apartment looking for inspiration
while your voice in my head tells
me exactly what you think of that.

I have no kitchen table but even
if I did I can’t recreate the lapping
tongues of dogs or the exact
position of olives on the plate.
My cat is silent and solitary, content
to watch me from the floor never
demanding a space by my side.

You have no words for me when
you are climbing.  Photographs
of mountains and lush forest
trails appear on the internet next
to your name.  Bluer skies and whiter
clouds.  Countless leaves like stars
that spark our spacious imaginations.

Beth spends most Friday nights in the home of her friends, JD and Dale, drinking wine and writing about drinking wine. After doing this for a couple of years, they decided to see if anything they had written might entertain other people. She has most recently been published in Straight Up Magazine and on-line at the Dime Show Review.