A LOVE STORY
by Gloria G. Murray

A LOVE STORY

we kissed in the dark hallways
of the Canarsie projects
backs pressed
against the concrete wall
lips sealed
with the grout of lust
your tongue swirling under mine
your ardent fingers curling
like a sculptor
around my nipples
under the summer silk

O love, you were my first…
and my last

in-between the years
of slaps, screams
splashes of hate like paint against
the peeling walls
of our suburban home
quelled only
by the bodies in remembrance
of that feral melding
almost five decades ago
that roller coaster ride
those bursting fireworks…

FEBRUARY MAN  

you are my blizzard man
you come to me when storms
are brewing, rising
over the shores of my life

you come to me when winds rage
hail snaps against
the shutters of my heart

you soothe me
with marshmallow words
wit that dances
little elves at my feet

and when the door of the world
is shut with snow mounds
you open yours

where a fiery fire crackles
and glaciers break

FISHERMAN

alone in the queen size bed
I turn over, touch the empty space
your pillow holds

for a moment
half in sleep, floating
between this world and the next

I forget you are fishing
casting your rod
like a mysterious spell into the sea

or asleep, zipped in a bag
under the stars
on a beach with the wind beating

against your cap
the moon a spotlight on your face
the mosquitoes biting your ears

About the Author:

A member of Poets & Writer’s Inc., Gloria Murray's poetry and prose has been published in various literary journals and anthologies such as Grabbing the Apple, The Paterson Review, Third Wednesday, The Pittsburgh Quarterly, Xanadu, Oberon, Long Island Quarterly, Ted Kooser’s on-line American Life in Poetry and others. Gloria's one-act play What are Friends for? was performed off Broadway as well as presented in the Michigan Art of the One-act  Anthology, 2007, New Issues Press. She the recipient of the Anna Davidson Rosenberg 2014 1st prize award in Poetica Magazine, as well as 3rd place 2017 Writer’s Digest Poetry Award.