The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The High Price of Collectibles
by Angela Yuriko Smith

These memories of you—

tokens of who you once were.

They keep you with me.

.

The salt and pepper shakers remind me 

of all the meals I cooked for you with

never enough flavor, “bland as sand”

my hours in the kitchen worth less

than dirt. Your words hurt…

until I took your tongue.

.

Memorabilia

of two lives and all we shared—

proof of a marriage.

.

The photo of your sister, how you missed her

despite how she treated your bride, berating

and hating me. She poisoned 

you against me. 

Eye for an eye…

and I poisoned her.

.

Souvenirs, kick-knacks…

dust catchers, useless, old junk…

I call them trophies.

.

The grinder that was my friend

to the end, pulverizing coffee beans

making your breakfast conversation

tolerable. I told you I would kill 

for a cuppa but still you forgot

to stop by the shop. Once.

.

Things carefully kept

reminders of my past lives…

all the beaus I had.

.

You never caught me when I’d fall

so the silver pitcher caught it all

every last drip of you steam streaming 

off the butcher block and spilled

not a drop keeping the linoleum

pristine. No mopping on Sunday.

.

Some girls keep rings

or locks of hair—or love notes!

Incriminating.

.

How your family swallowed the pies 

at your funeral. Your eyes wallowing

in rich, current sauce, missing you

between bites never knowing

how near you were, giving them

your all. Good to the last drop.

.

I have one more space

or I’ll need a bigger shelf

and I’m past my prime.

.

Fiction © Copyright Angela Yuriko Smith
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

More from Angela Yuriko Smith:

Angela Yuriko Smith is an American poet, author and co-publisher of Space and Time magazine, a publication that has been printing speculative fiction, art and poetry since 1966. Together we build a poem as a community each month. Visit “Exquisite Corpse” at SpaceandTime.net to submit.

Catch up with Angela here!