Featured Guest Writer Tara Claeys based on poem prompt in Bewilderness Writing and “Tonsure” by Kevin Young.

FOREVER YOU FIND

by Tara Claeys

Forever you find
the taste of maraschino cherries
reminding you of those after work cocktails.
He would give you a cherry
while behind the bar
mixing his Manhattan.
The name Vermouth, strange, 
on the bottle.
This was the ritual,
hero worship.
He would take his drink upstairs. 
You would bounce on the water bed
talking loud so he could hear you
while he changed
out of his suit
in the bathroom.
How was your day
on a scale of 1-10?
Forever you didn’t want to disappoint him.
It was always an 8 or higher.