Surreptitiously

Kate Weller

Awakened from a sapphire slumber by a bang! I hear
the door abruptly open. My ear questions towards the
sound. Receiving no answer in return. I cringe at
the pounding of her deceitful steps as they scurry up
the stairs into her room where she lays with her
husband: the man who still loves her. She rips his
heart out. Extinguishing the past. Burning the
future.
Picking out from her closet the most flattering of
garments. She packs them into her suitcase of lies.
They reek of hidden affairs. Filling our home with
the stench of betrayal (after your arrival).
I keep my mouth shut and bite my tongue to clench back
the tears. My expressions show otherwise. I want to
avow the words I long to scream at her sad, sad, face.
Spurting the truth. Something the daughter shouldn’t
have to do.
She descends the stairs with her cold heart. Passing
through the dark rooms into the garage.
Mother throws her dishonesty in the trunk. Fires up
the engine that will rush her to her secret.
Before leaving, as I stand before her in dismay, she
grabs two bottles of bitter sweet wine. Guzzle it
down, mom, and as it seethes through your teeth you’ll
try to deny your treachery with your drunken haze.
Do not tell me the wine is for you alone...