May 4. 2021

This week’s poem is written by guest poet Jean Reinhold.

in between

This morning, I wiped the pollen layer from my porch table.
Now, eight hours later, the tiles are speckled in yellow again.
In between, Madura cleaned my teeth and told me about India,
people cutting down park trees to collect wood for funeral pyres.
In between, a friend tried to freeze her tumors into submission.
In between, another man had a bullet fired at the back of his head.
Even on this day, when death and loss hover near, buzzing,
every tree in my neighborhood is shaking its fist, every bee is
humming as if to say: Try me. Sweet honey is coming, even if
your tongues can barely taste, even if it’s all so hard to swallow.

© Jean Reinhold

About Jean: I live in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and am a teacher at Fernway Elementary School in Shaker Heights, Ohio—33 years which were highlighted by kickball pitching and directing the annual 4th grade poetry play. More of my work can be found here, at my website. I met Maya a dozen years ago by randomly finding her writing online. Instantly, I was hooked on the words and the person. Luckily for me, Maya has spent time on the porch mentioned in this poem.