DEPARTURE
Copyright 2006 by Abbie Johnson Taylor
We kiss in the rain
while the bus thrums nearby,
waiting to take you away.
“What’s this hood?” you ask, as our lips meet.
I try to remove it.
“Keep it on,” you say, as I yield.
I hold you, will the bus to leave without you.
All too soon, you’re gone.
Back Story
In 2006, during a poetry class I was taking, we were prompted to write a poem that began with, “We kiss in the rain.” I immediately thought of a time the previous year after my late husband Bill proposed to me. At the time, he was living in Fowler, Colorado, and I here in Sheridan, Wyoming. In March of 2005, he spent a week with me in Sheridan, where I accepted his proposal. When he returned to Fowler, our parting was bittersweet. That inspired the above poem.
You can read more of our story in my memoir, My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds, in which this poem appears. This poem was also published in my collection, How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver. Thank you for reading.
Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography
Photo Resize and Description
by Two Pentacles Publishing
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