PAST LOVER
by Courtney LeBlanc
PAST LOVER
~inspired by a poem by Ashley Steineger with the same title
Past lover looks at his phone, thinks
of texting her but doesn’t, places it back
in his pocket, waits for a vibration to notify
him a message has arrived. Not from her
though, never from her anymore.
Past lover stretches the hammock between
trees, watching the ocean slowly devour
the sun, remembers when they laid
here together.
Past lover lies down after a long day, looks
at the clock, does the math. They are literally
a world apart, an ocean between them, her day
just starting as his ends. He thinks of calling,
good morning beautiful. Doesn’t.
Past lover sees a rainbow, snaps a picture,
posts it online because he can’t send
it to her. The plumeria are blooming.
She was here this time last year.
Courtney LeBlanc
Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the chapbooks All in the Family (Bottlecap Press) and The Violence Within (Flutter Press), a Pushcart Prize nominee, and an MFA candidate at Queens University of Charlotte. Her poetry is published or forthcoming in Public Pool, Rising Phoenix Review, The Legendary, Germ Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Brain Mill Press, Haunted Waters Press, and others. She loves nail polish, wine, and tattoos. Follow her on twitter: @wordperv, and IG: @wordperv79.