Evangeline
by Deidre Moore
Evangeline your eyes haunt me
In the dead of night
Small head suckling at my breast
Tiny sounds of childish content
A gasp and then a cry
Ripped away, the milk still dripping from your mouth,
Tears running from your eyes.
How do I live without you?
What choices do I make?
When my world was built around you,
Now the streets are empty and crowded no more
Wind rustles through the shutters, the curtains blow,
A ghost town, a celluloid memory in silver and white
Do I keep the photos?
Can I peel them out and throw them away?
Tear them from my mind.
Do I have that strength? Or do I keep the pain?
It’s all I have left of you.
Evangeline why do I cry?
How do I breathe without you?
How can I commit that sacrilege?
Haunted by a memory, was it real, do I just deny it? And you?
What do I choose?
I stumble on a crack in the sidewalk
I look down at the scuffed hopscotch forgotten, it is time to go inside
Who am I?