The Abandoned (Poetry)

First Published in Word Craft Issue 9 Autumn 1983

Those unsuspected, familiar things
Lash grief with swift reminders; stings
Into a sharp remorse.

Like one abandoned spectral shirt
Haunting the laundry’s sad melee, brought hurt
And drew a whispered curse.

That hopeless gesture of lost sleeves
Revived the ghost my heart believes
Was laid. For better or for worse.