Mary Lou Buschi

Blue

We take a ride
to the park by the sea, 

never making it on to the beach.
You were too tired so, 

we set up chairs.
I read. You slept. 

As I watch your chest rise
and fall, anticipating
a steady fall.
You wake up, stir, massage 

the arm gone numb.
Years from now, 

would we share the same loneliness?
You say something I want to hang on to, 

but the future I
can’t remember what.

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Mary Lou Buschi holds an MFA in poetry from the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and a Master of Science in Urban Education from Mercy College. Her poems have appeared in many literary journals such as FIELD, Willow Springs, Indiana Review, Radar, Thrush, Tar River, Cream City, Rhino, The Laurel Review, among others. Her second full length collection, Paddock, was published by Lily Poetry Review Books in 2021.