Poems

by TJ Wallis

A Man Died This Morning

A man died this morning.

I watched from the sage mesa
as they pulled his body from the lake.

Two divers
submerged
resurfaced,
and freed him
from the water.

Paramedics
pounded on his chest
blew in his mouth
"Breathe, you bastard, breathe."

A policeman
shouted,
paced, shook his head,
calmed a woman, held her back
from the scene.

Finally,
someone pulled a blanket
over his face.

I turned and went home.

The Avon Lady

Three hours
snivelling
in our coffees

exchanging horror stories
about
parents who never listened to us,
husbands who take us for granted,
children who think money grows on trees.

and when we finished relating,
having learned each other's secrets,
we parted

she with a suitcase of makeup samples
to sell to another dissatisfied soul

and I
with an unwanted bottle of Chantilly Lace,
to my little house of horrors,
thankful for the comfort found in a stranger,
thankful we would not meet again.

-- TJW
© TJ Wallis

TJ Wallis is a freelance writer from the Okanagan region of British Columbia. Though she has 200 published articles to her credit, mostly in the area of career development and business, TJ enjoys letting loose her creative side, too. Some of her published articles can be viewed at her website: http://www.tjwallis.com.