Summer, OrRery

Jack Bedell

On one of the few nights I made it home
before the street lights came on,

I watched my mother set the table
for supper through the bay window

on the side of our house. She put out
plates and glasses for all four of us,

then set out an extra plate and wine glass
for the empty seat at the end of the table.

She filled the glass up to the brim
and walked into the kitchen

to put the wine back into the fridge.
By the time she returned to the table,

the sky had purpled so bad behind me
I could barely see her outline

through the window screen,
how she sat down in her normal place,

rested her chin on her balled up fists,
stared straight at that empty chair

like whatever story it told was new to her,
and waited for that wine to drink itself.

Jack B. Bedell is Professor of English and Coordinator of Creative Writing at Southeastern Louisiana University where he also edits Louisiana Literature and directs the Louisiana Literature Press. Jack’s work has appeared in HAD, Pidgeonholes, The Shore, Okay Donkey, EcoTheo, Heavy Feather, Cheap Pop, and other journals. His latest collection is Color All Maps New (Mercer University Press, 2021). He served as Louisiana Poet Laureate 2017-2019.