LB Sedlacek

LB Sedlacek cohosts "Coffee House to Go" with Mike Potter, a literary podcast the time gardener recommends. Her book Average Bears is available at thepoetrymarket.com

Ghosts Within

We are driving, Big Dipper
to the right of this country highway
lit only by the moon flung high overhead—partying with the stars.

We ride in silence, the big
maroon car hurling forward
past dark houses; we meet no other cars.
No sounds—not even wind delve
into the soft, leather interior
aglow with specks of green neon, that are read—not spoken aloud.

We are three strangers, like customers
shopping in an electronics store
searching for the right DVD or CD
to strike a spark,
or a flame from a falling star.
The car weaves and climbs up hills;
narrowly making turns.

The passenger in the back lifts
a fist to his face, his body jerking
back and forth as he coughs without
sound; it is too far away to
find a radio signal out here.
The Driver eases off the gas just
a little, eyes droopy, in need of
rest – the front passenger sleeps.

A glow of blue and white hurls
towards us bathing our vehicle
in purple as the speeding sports
car blazes past us never pointing out
with a flash from high beams to low
that we—in our maroon car—
are driving without headlights.
Making us ghosts driving towards home.

The Silent House

She won't be hollering for him anymore—
with cupped hands,
curlers in her hair, and a pink
bathrobe and slippers. Nope:
now he's cooking for one—
the bachelor menu of bacon, eggs
or microwavable blocks of ice;
nothing like the meals she used
to make. His neighbor’s fix him
plates, but he knows they're
only leftovers. Then they ask
his opinions on all sorts of
things. He keeps busy with the
yard work: raking, mowing,
shoveling snow. But, he's just
no good at cleaning her china:
useless to him, but it was hers
so he dusts it three times a week.

by LB Sedlacek
LB Sedlacek's poetry has appeared in a variety of publications such as "Red River Review," "Passport Journal," "Heritage Writer,"
"sidereality," "Bear Creek Haiku," "Down in the Cellar," "Open Mouse,"
"Transparent Words," "Inkburns," "Poet's Canvas," "Spiky Palm," "X Magazine," "Re)Verb," "HazMat Review," "3Lights," and "ART:MAG." Her chapbooks include "Alexandra's Wreck" and "Average Bears." LB is co-host of the podcast "Coffee House to Go."