The Sound of the Stillness

The Sound of the Stillness
By Rebecca Longtin

soaring across the path

a small bird catches my eye 

I pause.

at first overwhelmed by silence

as the wheels of my scooter stop

I breathe.

the song of warblers reaches my ears

a chorus of more than the eye can spot

I am still.

wings push through the air, an audible sound

as they fly over my head

I am.

The Quiet of the Beach on a Windy Day

The Quiet of the Beach on a Windy Day
By Rebecca Longtin

The beach was still long
about an hour after low tide,
not a footprint in sight,
very few shells to be seen.
The sand wiped clean
still glistened from the sea.

The wind howled past
pulling my hair from my face.
Sea foam darted up the shore
barely touching the sand as it soared.
Up near the dunes, loose sand
created a flowing stream. 

The rain began to fall
pelting my raincoat and cheeks.
Then I came upon another person,
the first I had seen on this afternoon walk.
With a wave and a thumbs up,
kindred souls we passed.

When I Suffered, You Did Nothing

When I Suffered, You Did Nothing 

By Rebecca Longtin

You said the loving words 
that you thought I wanted to hear 
despite the fact 
that you didn’t believe them to be true. 

You even dreamed the dreams, 
made the plans, 
and invested the money 
as if we had a future together. 

You watched me 
adapt, bend, and twist 
to meet your ever changing needs 
knowing it would never be enough 

and I somehow missed 
the fact that you weren’t doing the same. 
You didn’t see your role. 
You didn’t want to. 

You stayed silent through it all 
with one foot out the door, 
as you watched me pour myself 
into you and our marriage. 

And then, when you decided you had enough 
you turned the finger on me. 
You pointed out my flaws. 
You blamed me for my reactions. 

You kept your explanations 
vague and varied enough, 
your examples reaching back more than a decade. 
The confusion on my face reflected so clearly. 

With distorted negative perceptions, 
you blamed me for your insecurities 
and you blamed me for my strengths. 
You still refused to see your role. 

You watched my tears fall. 
You saw the pain and confusion in my eyes. 
You witnessed the weight loss and sleepiness nights 
and you did nothing to ease my suffering. 

You heard me plea for clarity. 
You saw my desperation for answers. 
Yet you openly admitted that you had not even bothered 
to work through those answers with your therapist. 

You walked away as if you had never loved me. 
as if you had never cared about me. 
You acted like what we once had 
never had existed.

Sharing the Beach with a Willet

 

Sharing the Beach with a Willet

By Rebecca Longtin

I walked the shore with a Willet,
running in and out of the waves,
the sun low behind us as the day began,
golden light pouring over us.

Finding a treasure higher on shore,
clasping it in his beak, he rushed to the surf 
And dropped it in the water
over and over.
 
Then we continued down the shore.
The sound of the crashing waves
drowning out all else.
The crunch of shells marking time.

The Willet paused,
suddenly wary of my presence.
So I paused too
to gave him space to move on at his own pace.