September of 2023 had me

wedged into a cloud of devastation.

Marlena served the country

on foreign soil for a war

she didn’t vote for.

This year bore shadows

of a contradiction that had me

up in arms over sleepless nights.

Blackmailed with suspicion,

I received mail with a parcel

indicating the war had ended,

not just overseas

but between Marlena and me.

I released the words I thought

I’d never say, not in 2023.

But there Marlena stands.

And here, I dropped to one knee.

By Andy Cooper

From: United States

Website: https://drinkcoffeewrite.online/

Twitter: AC0040