Fifteen Seconds

is all I can spare

to smell the wilted rose petals

now drying in a bowl

in the foyer

on a shelf

as I pass on my way to the door.

The petals

were swept from the bed

in the morning

after adhering

to the sweat on our bodies

last night

as we said our last goodbye.

I don’t have time

for coffee,

and I didn't want

to wake you.

-

"Fifteen Seconds" is published in the 2017 Winter Issue (#5) of Light, an independent, reader-supported, quarterly journal of fine art photography and poetry in its second year of publication. The theme of Issue 5 is "Reflection."

Eric