Neil
Ellman won his college’s poetry prize ($50) more than 40 years ago. Now
retired, he is writing again, and having fun seeing his work appear in
many national and international online journals. He recently had a poem
published in Astropoetica,
for which he earned $5. As you all know, he was paid nothing for The
Morning After, and he’s wondering if this trend is significant. Did I
mention that Neil writes in my home state of New Jersey? This poem is
about lost love, which happens everywhere. Even in New Jersey.
The Morning After
By Neil Ellman
I suppose it’s over:
The closet, her closet
And half of mine,
Abandoned October nest
White hangers
Dropped like plastic leaves
From metal trees.
The mirrored cabinet
Emptied of mascara,
Lotions with peculiar names
And shapes
Percocet, morning-after pills,
Barbiturates to fall asleep,
Amphetamines she took
To hold her weight
And boost her mood.
There were the calls
I answered:
“Who is this?”
And then a silence
Like a stone.
I search for remnants
That she occupied this space
Crumbs of dinners ordered in
Faint echoes of her raspy voice.
I asked her “Where?”
And she said “Out”
And out turned into a day
And then into another
And then another still.
There were signs, I suppose,
But none that I could see.
I like this imagery: White hangers
Dropped like plastic leaves
From metal trees.
And I loved the poem. Keep it up.