We savor the syncopated repartee
from perfectly bowed lips.
Connoisseurs of the blinding smile,
we watch for foreshadowing
in the vaulted darkness, say ah ha
when the scissors she used to trim
anniversary roses hover
above his heart.

They invite what frightens us most –
easy betrayal, the slow simmer, truth.
Afterward, cast back
into our ordinary shoes,
we shuffle between screen
and sedan, united
by the intrigue, the predictable
ending.

At home, I pour wine, undo
a button, shuffle cards at the table
while he shifts in his chair, clears
his throat, turns the page
of a novel.

–Barbara Sabol,
Original Ruse (2011)
Accents Publishing

More from Original Ruse:

• “Broach”
• “On Considering the Purchase of a New Mattress”
• “Wedlock”
• Original Ruse at the Accents Store
• Barbara Sabol’s Author Page

Barbara Sabol’s poetry and prose has appeared in Public-Republic, Blood Lotus, Poets 350, the Tupelo Press Poetry Project,Tributaries, and on the Akron Art Museum’s website. She has an MFA from Spalding University. Barbara is a long-practicing speech therapist, living in northeastern Ohio with her partner and dogs.