by Carl Kutsmode
Waiting…
Lit cigarette in one hand,
red clutch purse in the other,
my mother is waiting at the bus stop,
at the corner of Montgomery and Sherbrooke,
an Air Canada suitcase at her feet.
Wait, I say. I need to pack.
She calls don’t forget the crystal vase,
the one that held your first red rose bouquet
and the lint brush.
I cannot find my suitcase.
I throw my jeans, three summer dresses,
roller skates, a frying pan, a purple-striped hoody
into a green garbage bag.
I cannot find my shoes.
I race around the apartment past crumpled sheets,
past my younger self sitting on the sofa
reading Cosmopolitan,
uncooked porridge stares at me
with two raisin eyes in the kitchen.
Wait. I’m not ready
I cry down to my mother
through the open kitchen window—
but she has vanished,
a chihuahua tied to the cement post
is waiting,
waiting for someone.
The scent of fresh lavender and laundry soap,
an element burns hot on the stove,
porridge cooking, its two raisin eyes,
bubbles of heat.
Doris Fiszer is a Canadian poet who lives in Ottawa, Ontario. She is the author of two chapbooks: The Binders, Tree Press andSasanka (Wild Flower), Bywords Publication. She has won awards for her poetry including the 2017 John Newlove Award and Tree Press’s 2016 Chapbook contest (The Binders). The Binders was also shortlisted for the bpNichol Chapbook Award. Her poems have appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies in Canada and the United States. She has recently published her first full-length poetry collection, Locked in Different Alphabets, Silver Bow Publishing.
Carl Kutsmode is not a professional or Juried artist. He is a serial entrepreneur in the recruiting and management consulting industry. Following 9/11, he realized that something major was missing in his life – a CREATIVE outlet – which he soon found in art and photography. Carl maintains a consistent theme in his art, one of differentiation, transformation and forward movement.