Because I was Lonely
in Eighties New York City, I placed
a personal ad, promised to be prettier,
more exciting than I am.
Because they were lonely,
I hauled a plastic bag full of letters
from the newspaper’s office,
subwayed beside its poking points,
already their girlfriend,
protective of their secrets.
Men auditioned in swirled script.
Postcards and Post-its. Quiet pages
translucent as shed skin.
One cooked a perfect Spanish omelet.
Another posed with three dachshunds,
offered a ready-made family.
A widower sent a list of everything
he missed about his wife. I stopped
reading at seven pages.
I dated a few. A sweet man who giggled.
A divorced dad who brought
his sullen teenage twins.
An inmate sent a letter, stamped
with a prison logo like a warning
tattoo. I let it sit
for a week. Inside, an old
black and white, “Me. Ten years old”
scrawled at the bottom.
I ran a finger along its edge, worn
from handling, stared at the boy,
messy-haired, gangly in his Sunday suit.
How lonely he must have been to part
with it.
*
Tina Barry is the author of Beautiful Raft and Mall Flower (Big Table Publishing 2019 and 2016). Her writing can be found in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including ONE ART: a journal of poetry, The Best Small Fictions 2020 (spotlighted story) and 2016, Rattle, Verse Daily, trampset, SWWIM and elsewhere. Tina’s third collection I Tell Henrietta, with art by Kristin Flynn, will be published in 2024 by Aim Higher Press, Inc. She has three Pushcart Prize nominations as well as Best of the Net and Best Microfiction nods. Tina is a teaching artist at The Poetry Barn and Writers.com.
Nice poem!
Thank you, Melody!
Beautiful and haunting
Thank you, Anya!
You sum up a life, his and yours, in a few perfect words, what a gift!
Thanks for the kind words, Tamara!
Poem of the pre-digital past, so good from beginning to poignant end.
Thanks for reading and for the kind words, Bob.
Wow ending!
Thanks, Keith!
Gorgeous and poignant. And makes me think of the “Village Voice” (I’m guessing that was the paper?) and miss it all the more.
Thanks, Pamela. And yes, it was the Village Voice, and I miss it too.
A delightful read! I have my poem ‘Amber’ finds a home in this issue! Thanks!
Thank you, Gopal! I hope so too.
So good!
Thank you, James!
that ending. Deep, Tina. Loved it.
Thank you, abronofechoblog!
A great poem
Thank you, Craig!
Oh, please! I anxiously waited for one extra line at the end of the poem … that you had returned the picture of the ten year old, saying that you were not worthy.
Hi Jane,
I don’t like to tie up the ends of my poems too tightly. I like that you wish that I sent the photo back to the sender, but you’re left wondering if it happened or not. Tina