Memory

Sixteen miles out

she could see

the city’s silhouette,

the Tall City,

the Mid-lands,

home.

She felt a tightening

in her chest, 

at first,

so she sighed,

releasing 

the endorphin-

fueled feeling

of being away,

the vacation

vibration,

but by the time

she counted

the tenth

pumpjack

she acquiesced,

a little, but held on

to the curve of a river,

the arch of a bare-

limbed canopy,

the offer of his 

hand to steady

her aging knees

as she jumped

from the fallen 

tree … she closed

her eyes, distilling 

the moment

into that evermore

place of memory…

—C.L. Fisher, March 2021

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