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.
Jolly good show, Angela! A bit of nostalgia (?) for each and all. The story is almost relaxing.
I LOVE this – it’s so deliciously wicked. 🙂