Liz Walsh-Boyd

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Remedy for Sorrow I


I have known him
to cry only once,
but today from
across the room
I can see
his eyes
are shallow pools
and he has pursed
his bottom lip
to keep the tears
inside.



Remedy for Sorrow II

I find my husband
in the bathroom
polishing the brown
metallic wall tile
over and over
the cotton cloth
going in fine round
strokes, the soft
whir of the drill
echoing in the hall
where I wait.



Remedy for Sorrow III

Sometimes, for a little
while, I sleep
under his shoulder
where I find us
forest deep
at the marble cave
listening
to the green rain tap
as we sit
beside the fire
eating roasted bird
and humming little tunes
to make the night fall.


Copyright 1996, Liz Walsh-Boyd


Liz Walsh-Boyd, a social service worker, is published or forthcoming in Arnazella,
Bellowing Ark, The Panhandler, and Waterways. She studies poetry at the University
of Washington Extension Program.