Today's poem is by Jessica D. Thompson

Killing Time
       

The old woman in the Dollar Store
buys a child's swimming pool—

a rigid circle
of watery blue plastic.

It could be a surprise
for a grandchild

or a faithful companion
who has never been to a groomer.

Maybe I'm romanticizing
the story. Perhaps

she wants to soak her aching feet.
I watch her cross the parking lot,

blue disc in a palsied hand,
and suddenly I want to follow

her home. Watch her sit
in a sagging lawn chair—

filling up the emptiness.

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Copyright © 2023 Jessica D. Thompson All rights reserved
from Daybreak and Deep
Kelsay Books
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission