Two Poems

Rosanne Olson

SLEEP

I lay on my side as she entered my sight
her hair glittering in the sun.
We were no place familiar
just the comfort of each other
she in a satin gown and
I as my everyday self.
How are you I asked.
Don't worry she said.
She was beautiful as ever
as if she had never been thrown
out the window of that car
as it rolled around the curve.
As if she had never been dissolved
into ashes and scattered about heaven & earth.
I am fine she said and I believe
she touched my shoulder as she left.

MY DARLING

Did I tell you that spring has reached us again?
Tulips at the edge of the garden bloom like
babies whose pink cheeks I can't help
but touch with my own.
What can I say? I never expected to live this long
not even past thirty.
But I have.
And now the lilacs are so sweet.
And the sky.
I didn't know then what I do now
about life, about what matters.
This morning, tinged with the last breath of winter,
I sipped tea and followed the sunrise
as the cat bathed herself in a puddle
of golden light.

Rosanne Olson

Rosanne Olson holds a master's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. She works as a fine art and commercial photographer, pursuing the soul of expression in all her work, be it photography or writing. She is currently working on two books: Pinhole Travels, images and essays from around the world, and Body Image,a book about how women feel about their bodies.

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