Retirement Living
It’s an oceanside penthouse and when she says couch her mother says sofa when she says bar her mother says cocktail lounge when she says biker dude her mother says friend when she says sloshed her mother says inebriated when she says rape her mother says incident when she says cops her mother says law enforcement when she says abortion her mother says termination when she says looney bin her mother says rest home when she says can I sleep on the couch her mother says but Sarah after your friend put his hands on my sofa I sold it.
Roberta Beary A native New Yorker, poet and writer identifies as gender-fluid and splits their time between the USA and Ireland.[/author]
Photo Credit: tin.G
Roberta, what a strong portrayal of emotions layered through objects, places, behaviors, and actions, with that final action of the sofa having been sold – the same sofa that began everything. I appreciate the juxtaposition between the narrator’s diction and the mother’s. The distance between the pair feels less distant by the end. Beautifully compressed!
Poignant display of how language and idiom and posture can obscure our true feelings, including love. Thank you for writing this.
Love it! 🙂
🙏 💕 glad it resonated!
Wow!
That’s all … simply, wow!
Thank you, Tony! I appreciate your comments!