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Cloudy, Chance of Rain
Margaret Fieland
They sit side by side at the table,
paying grim attention to their dinner
and none at all to each other,
their bodies stiff and awkward
as they attempt to avoid touching.
When they start to speak their words
erupt from their mouths like lava
flowing down the slope of a volcano,
bitter and burning:
his affair with the interior decorator
who was only supposed to make some
custom lampshades,
her destruction of his mail,
his misuse of the money
inherited from her father,
her vitriolic phone calls
to his office staff,
each attempting to convince the other
that they are the victim, the other the villain.
As if afraid the venom is catching,
the other diners begin to edge away,
quickly finishing their meals and leaving,
until the couple is surrounded
with a sea of empty tables
left alone with each other.
Do they remember the good times,
the dinner parties alive with animated conversation,
the evening chess games,
the rounds of golf,
or only the bad,
the accusations of cheating over the bridge table,
the stony silence at the dinner table,
the shouting behind closed doors?
Will the skirmish escalate to open war
as they continue to accuse each other,
preparing to hire opposing attorneys intent on
gouging pounds of flesh,
or will they declare a detente,
at last ready to admit that they are equally responsible
for the debacle they have made
of what was once a marriage?
Born and raised in New York City, Margaret Fieland has been around art and music all her life. She is an accomplished flute and piccolo player and the daughter of a painter. Her poetry has appeared in "Shattering Silence: Reclaiming the Voice of Social Awareness through Poetry and Art", "Imprint: Enlightening, thought-provoking and uplifting poetry," and in Gentle Strength Quarterly.Her poem, "Truth and Beauty" appears in the September issue of "Main Channel Voices." You may visit her website, www.margaretfieland.com.