1.
Wanting to chuck clothes over the balcony,
soil them in winter sludge.
Wishing my mother hadn’t raised
a genteel Southern lady.  

2.
A child slurps milk from a cereal bowl.
Uncorrupted and unaware
he burps then giggles.  

3.
Dresser drawers vacated,
empty hangers quivered
on a cold metal rod.  

4.
Hands dip in scalding water.
Clean dishes offer comfort.  

5.
Head bowed in guilty resignation,
he shuffles past.
No “I’m sorry.”
Not even a remorseful glance.  

6.
Black suitcase stowed by the door
awaits retrieval
and a new home.  

(Inspired by “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens and “6 Versions of Depression” by Beatrice Underwood-Sweet)