Enough

by Elaine Reardon


I wondered if it was the war
that made him so angry,
nights when he shook with
malaria, sheets soaked through.
He shouted through nightmares,
flung blankets and me off the bed.

Do you know
how many nights
I woke airborne,
then crashing?

Sudden changes in mood—
he'd scream that he'd leave
if I left him alone with the baby,
he'd leave her right there, in the crib.
And he did, when I walked to the corner
to buy a quart of milk.

I remember my Gramma saying
You make your bed, you lie in it
as she washed the linoleum floor,
limp apron tied around her.
How much do we swallow before
we know we've had enough?


* * * * *

Elaine Reardon is a writer, herbalist, and artist and educator. Her first chapbook, The Heart is a Nursery For Hope, won first honors from Flutter Press in 2016, and her second chapbook, Look Behind You, was also published in late 2019 by Flutter Press. Most recently Elaine's work was published in The Common, Galway Review, Pensive Journal, and similar journals. A new chapbook, Stories Told in a Lost Tongue was published by Finishing Line Press in September 2024. www.elainereardon.wordpress.com.