She wants him to be happy in his life, so
she tells him he can go.
She plays outside his margins,
sleeps on his side of the bed.

She tells him he can go,
finding comfort in vodka and swimming pools.
She sleeps on his side of the bed,
stares at the middle of her steering wheel.

Finding comfort in vodka and swimming pools,
she wakes on a couch in only a towel,
stares at the middle of her steering wheel,
finds dark corners where she can’t see the walls.

She wakes on a couch in only a towel.
She wants him to be happy in his life, so
she finds dark corners where she can’t see the walls.
She plays outside his margins.

 

[Refer: This poem refers to Robin Turner's poem "In the Margins."]

Catherine Carson teaches creative writing at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL. She holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Central Florida where she served as managing editor for The Florida Review. Her creative nonfiction is forthcoming in The HerStories Project.

Image by Stephan Mignon