Imminent
One
rarely knows
the
exact moment
when
shifts take place,
when
one goes from being
tentative
to certain,
from
hesitant to sure,
from
cautious to open,
completely
convinced
of
knowing another
as
well as one knows oneself.
An
empty bottle removed,
a
full one to take its place.
A
jacket retrieved,
a
hat handed over.
Which
side to sit on,
who
will hold the remote.
Familiarity
grows,
day
by day,
transitioning
into
full understanding
of
what another is thinking,
complete
comprehension
of
what another needs,
moving
along assuredly
without
word or doubt...
…until
that critical moment,
when
misjudgment takes place.
Trigger
The
aroma
of
oatmeal cookies
always
produced
memories
of his mama,
just
as the sight
of
chewing tobacco
instantly
caused him
to
recall his daddy.
And
the fragrance
of
Avon cologne
invariably
made
him think of her,
though
he’d never known
the
name of the perfume
in
the yellow bottle,
never
asked.
Just
as a scent
can
bring back
an
old memory,
or
an image
can
flood the heart
with
sentiment
thought
long-forgotten,
so
too a word or phrase,
significantly
placed,
can
transport one
back
to that moment in time
when
all the earth quaked,
trembling
to its very core.
Drown
A
tight hand grips the bottle,
no
space between skin and label,
no
light between clenched fingers,
knuckles
white, nails blue,
scars
prominent across weathered skin,
failings
exposed for all to see.
The
amber liquid burns as fire,
scorching
body and soul
with
its pervading fever,
rotting
limbs, searing spirit...
but
the fervor of the whiskey
remains
but a flicker
to
the dominance
of
the inferno blazing within,
sense
and sagacity
mere
blackened coals.
Reason
grows still,
discernment
distant,
judgment
dormant,
yet
the battle rages on
inside
his head.
Closing
his eyes,
he
tips the bottle,
drinks
hard,
drowns
heart.
Cristine A. Gruber,
a Southern California native, is a registered caregiver as well as a widely-published
poet. Her work has been featured in numerous magazines, including: North American Review, Writer’s Digest,
California Quarterly, The Endicott Review, The Homestead Review, Iodine Poetry
Journal, Leaves of Ink, Miller’s Pond, Napalm and Novocain,
The Penwood Review, The Poet’s Haven, Pound of Flash, Pyrokinection, Red River
Review, The Tule Review, Wilderness House Literary Review, and The Write Place at the Write Time. Her
first full-length collection of poetry, Lifeline, is available from
Amazon.com. More of Cristine's work can be found and enjoyed at http://sierraviewjournal.
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