2022
POETRY OPEN
Honorable Mention
$25 Award
come die with me
by T.A. Ciccarone
come die with me
spread the checkered cloth
out under our lives
while time shines down
and we trace the gingham patterns
through the plans and years
as the ants march
and the sand slips out,
you smooth skirt wrinkles
and I brush back my hair.
come die with me.
put the devil on hold
for just this one moment
just this one life.
make every moment the last
picnic in the sun.
will those days when we watched
the sky ignite, together,
fill our baskets and our souls
when it’s finally time to go.
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T. A. Ciccarone is an avid poetry, non-fiction, and fiction writer. He has worked as a restauranteur, chef, auctioneer, fencing master, fishmonger, poet, memoir writer, portrait painter, antique dealer, moonshiner, media announcer, and stand-up comic. He lives in southern Connecticut with his wife of 48 years, Mary Anne.
May 2022