by Victoria Franzese

Interior Design

When she was young
she chose Danish Modern furniture
with aqua accents to play off the walnut wood;
She styled her hair like Gene Tierney,
with weekly visits to the Beauty Salon;
She liked a sharp pencil skirt with stiletto heels
because, to be honest, her husband was right when he said she had great legs.

Over time various relatives unloaded
their excess furniture to fill the empty corners;
She didn’t see that the green velvet couch
and its carved mahogany cousins
transformed the room from minimalistic chic to flea market mess,
in the same way her husband ignored her thickening middle,
still seeing only sleek lines and long legs.

***

Face to Face

Look, I wish I didn’t sometimes say the wrong thing.
It’s not like my intentions are bad,
or that I’m careless.
But while words are my friend when the delete key is handy
and I can cut and paste to reorganize my thoughts,
conversations in the here and now can happen so fast
and there isn’t a meme or emoji at the ready
to express how I’m feeling when a word goes awry.
So while I’m glad to see you (and the pix will light up my insta),
next time, let’s just stick to texting.

 

Image: Photograph via pixabay