Rose Mary Boehm
A German-born UK national, Rose Mary Boehm lives and works in Lima, Peru. Author of two novels and eight poetry collections, her work has been widely published in US poetry journals. https://www.rose-mary-boehm-poet.com/
Bleak
That ashen sky made everything
despondent, as though even grief
had abandoned us and cleared the way
for a Greek tragedy.
A dog pissed against that broken
pillar which once supported the station master’s
small house. The wind had not yet remembered
us. You looked down, examining your shoes,
I wanted to get away. The station clock
clicked another minute, and told us
that the train would come in twelve.
Why had I said yes? Shame festered
in my stomach, and my brain spun
a purple weave. I had given in,
and you had loved it, lying to yourself
about the purpose of my presence.
Spend the night, you’d begged.
For you it finished there.
For me it finished then.
