by Joan Halperin
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| "King Gone" by Michael Ramirez on Twitter. |
Watch him step down, taking with him
the taste of a stolen kiss, an unwelcome hug, resting
in his back pocket with the obligatory silk handkerchief
and a long list of "the way things used to be."
Oh for the days when a man could slide
his hand over a woman's backside,
brush against a breast, whisper profanities
into a perfumed ear. When did these flowers
become so uppity? And how did he fall,
splat on the hard earth while holding tight
to the way life used to be?
Joan Halperin has been published in Confrontation, New York Quarterly, Blue Unicorn, and others. Until retirement, she was a Poet in the Schools in Westchester County and also a Poet-in- Public Service. She now lives in Orchard Cove, a continuing care community in Canton Ma. where she continues to teach, write, and keep in touch with grandchildren. Her oldest grandchild Hanna Halperin has just had Something Wild, her first novel, published to rave reviews.