Lisa Janice Cohen

SCHEHERAZADE'S LAST TALE

It is enough to dry the dishes as you wash,
deft hands flicking water from polished

steel.  You offer me the carving knife
handle first, thumb and forefingers shield

the blade.  I swipe its sharp surface dry,
slide it with a solid snick in the maple block.

You smooth a wrinkled sheet into a neat
square, laugh as I wrestle unruly corners,

throw the misshapen bundle at your head.
I settle for pairing socks, tucking the boys

into freshly made beds, winter blanket
warm. It is enough to sit in silence, stroke

the dog beside this fire you built for me,
the ringer off, invitations politely refused.

I am the book you read  by light
the color of maple syrup gold, the story

we tell for a thousand and one nights
and never tire of its ending.

Lisa Janice Cohen is a physical therapist, wife, mother, poet, and aspiring novelist. She is the head moderator at Wild Poetry Forum and the webmaster of Amaze:The Cinquain Journal. Lisa lives near Boston. You can find samples of her writing and essays about the writing process on her blog: www.ljcbluemuse.blogspot.com.