hollow cheeks
faded blue eyes
baseball cap
battered as he
two six packs
Wild Cat beer,
yellow box detergent
white plastic bag
groceries bulge
wobbly-wheel cart
‘86 Dodge Ram
navy, rust, primer paint
drives away:
exhaust
disappears
Mary Trafford is very glad to be a retired speech writer and medical illustrator, but continues her sideline passions of writing, editing, drawing, and teaching Centered Riding®. She is editor of “Centered Riding News,” a volunteer role she loves. Mary’s preferred genre of writing is poetry. Her poems have appeared in several publications, including Contemporary Verse 2, Arc Poetry Magazine, Canadian Woman Studies, Gone Dogs, Up the Gatineau and a 2020 anthology from Truth Serum Press. In 2020, Mary won second place in the Vallum Magazine Award for Poetry; in 2002, she won the inaugural Diana Brebner Prize from Arc Poetry Magazine. Mary lives in Chelsea, Quebec, Canada, with her wife and their bossy cat who gets up too early every single day.