Mildred Speidel’s most recent poem to appear here was Overwhelmed (April 2013).
Untitled
By Mildred Speidel
This island was large and
lovely once, rich with
laughter, children, music.
As the years went by
many left for other shores.
Now it’s just me and Faithful,
my cat. It is quite lonely.
Faithful can’t last much longer.
She is 18 now. How long do cats
live? That will be up to fate.
I hope I outlive her. Not
to be greedy, but to bury her
here, under the only palm tree
left. Who knew life would narrow
down like this? What once was
lush and magical is now desolate
and lonely. One more fire, one
more fish, perhaps, another
beautiful sunset. Then maybe
Faithful and I will leave this island
forever. How? I can’t say at the
moment. My mother always said
Sleep on an idea before making a decision.
Let me sleep on it tonight.