Three Poems

Poetry ~ Michele Witthaus
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Three smiles on my morning walk
 
I collected three smiles this morning
from women, walking fast,
rather a lot like me.
Smiles that felt real;
that said:
we might become friends
when all this is over
and we spot each other
in a local café.
Their smiles had a quality of pathos.
They were not the kind
bestowed on strangers
on a Boxing Day afternoon walk.
Not the self-satisfied variety,
infused with easy bonhomie.
These were early-morning
escape from lockdown smiles,
generous and risky and laced with hope,
and they buoyed me up
all the way home.
~ 

Self, contained
 
I miss you
viscerally.
Seeing you from a safe distance
only makes it worse.
When all this began,
I took comfort in
an aptitude for solitude;
thought it would be my ally
in this marathon of absence.
Now, as I wander these rooms,
ghost-like and alone,
I understand how porous
are the walls
that guard my heart.
Perhaps I’m not
as autonomous
as I had thought.
~ 

Emergence
 
Far away, children
go out to play together
for the first time since March.
Eyes blinking against the glare,
they spill out onto AstroTurf.
Some hanging back,
cautious from the time indoors.
when they learned to live
without their friends.
Nonetheless, they race one another,
the bravest and fastest snapping
the blue-and-white tape
that’s flapped in the breeze for weeks,
preventing access
to the roundabouts and slides.
Their parents watch them go,
nervous smiles plastered on.
As for us, we draw our brood closer,
glad of the chance to wait
and see what becomes
of the first to go.
~
​

Michele Witthaus (Leicestershire, United Kingdom)
Michele's poems have appeared in a variety of anthologies and other publications. Her background is in journalism and she is interested in ethical questions and ideas around sustainability. She is an active member of Leicester Writers’ Club.

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