In Meeting

Poem by Kathleen Bell

Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

We sat together in the white-walled room
where no one spoke. God didn’t happen.
I shuffled, stared at the carpet, wanted
a crack in the silence, words, something
to change. The shopping list in my mind
said soap, potatoes, jam, then went askew
adding things that weren’t for sale, or if they were
I couldn’t find them. I listed: a proper home,
a proper job, a bed alone, sufficient cash
to keep my children – that’s when my children
punched through the silence, ruptured still air,
marched through the walls and windows, there
where God didn’t happen and no one spoke.

You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.