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Contributor Series 11: On Birthdays, Enter Stage Right


06.22.12 Posted in Contributor Series 11, today's words by

Contributor Series 11: On Birthdays
Enter Stage Right

By Julie Ellinger Hunt

Yesterday’s date, a somber reminder
of your departure,
only a bakery white box
remains in the corner
of the fridge.

Today, a day older, I’m
reminded that it was you
who insisted on red velvet cake
with a single candle.
“Do not sing to me this year,” your voice trailed off,
while I half-listened, half-wished I was elsewhere.

Cardboard boxes lined up neatly
in the foyer, waiting
for a rescue.

And as you leave more officially
on the day we will both be celebrating our rebirths,
it is me, alone on the sofa,
entering this new phase,
that will soon devour our remaining
crumbs of a delicious,
and tumultuous ten years.

A full feeling of freedom
enters stage right.

Julie Ellinger Hunt’s most recent poem to appear here was Time Could Melt Away, published as part of Contributor Series 10: Silken Rags, in December 2011.




One Response to “Contributor Series 11: On Birthdays, Enter Stage Right”

  1. Stan says:

    Julie, the thing that keeps grabbing me in this poem is the beautiful symmetry of the bakery box at the beginning and the crumbs near the end. And the phrase “a delicious / and tumultuous ten years” is like a peddlar’s bag bulging with so many unseen things. Happy, as always, to see your work, and to be just a little jealous of what you accomplish.

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