Ohio Night
by Patricia Cannon RN
(This poem and artwork were initially published in OPEN: Journal of Arts and Letters.)
After the waitress left with
our orders my mother looked up
from her cup of coffee and said,
“I remember when I was a waitress
and hurried to get off work
to see my boyfriend, Bill.
We’d meet at the lake and laugh and laugh…me wearing a life jacket because I didn’t know how to swim!”
And at this unexpected offering
of jarred light
a woman I hadn’t known
appeared in my mind
wet and wrapped
in reddish-orange,
swirling and swirling
in black water
like a firefly bright
in the Ohio night
stripping the sting of age
for a peculiar moment
from her hazel eyes
honey-like
under the diner’s dim light.
Patricia Cannon has been a Registered Nurse at UCSF since 2001. Her passions are her faith, photography, and the written word in all its forms.
Artwork by Autumn Foote.
Artwork by Autumn Foote! Poem by Patricia Cannon