Poetry by Penelope Scambly Schott
hoping he wouldn’t tell me, his old mother,
that I ought not to still be driving.
I didn’t turn the car key until I couldn’t see
his blue shirt through the revolving door
and then I drove the 100 miles back home
past cliffs we had just passed together.
Here is his unfinished coffee still in the cup.
I will go lie down in the guest bed
before I strip off his wrinkled sheets.
I will imagine they are still warm.
Penelope Scambly Schott’s most recent book is Waving Fly Swatters at Angels. Forthcoming is gOD: A Respectfully Divergent Testament. Penelope is a past recipient of the Oregon Book Award for Poetry.
