HAIRBRUSH IN THE FALL

by Martina Reisz Newberry


A woman brushes her hair;
leaves fall
and part
the autumn
air.
It is the same dance.

I am at a hotel window
staring out as noon turns
to what was once called
“The Gloaming.”

Obviously, it was named that
to paint pretty edges
around what is a drab,
unhappy time of day.

Still, I stand in this
waiting room looking out
at the light struggling to stay
regardless of the hour.

I watch very deliberately
as if watching will save the sun.
I am fat with my conviction
that desiring a thing
will make it so.

All color fades.

Somewhere,
far from here,
it is a brilliant morning.
A woman has gotten up
from her bed.


She brushes her hair
and stares out the window
seeing leaves
rake
the air,

thinking how it is that
the golden illumination
is only bright enough
to show her
what
she’ll
never
have.

* * * * *

Martina Reisz Newberry’s most recent book is Glyphs, available now from Deerbrook Editions. She is the author of Blues For French Roast With Chicory, Never Completely Awake (from Deerbrook Editions), Where It Goes (Deerbrook Editions), Learning By Rote (Deerbrook Editions) and Running Like A Woman With Her Hair On Fire: Collected Poems (Red Hen Press).