Elise Hempel

The Sighting

 

I knew it would start as soon as your last breath –
I’d see you in a parking lot somewhere,
suspenders, cap and glasses, thin white hair –
I knew from what I’ve known so far of death
these intermittent sightings would begin,
I’d glimpse your denim shirt, those sloping shoulders
slipping through the automatic doors,
vanishing into Walmart’s crowd again.
But today you took me by surprise
at the market, shuffling down an aisle
so close I could turn and hug you, but your eyes
without that glint, your face devoid of smile.
No wind’s brief touch, no whispered message as you
just headed toward check-out, passing behind me, not through.

 

 

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Elise Hempel‘s poems have appeared in many journals over the years, including Poetry, Measure, Southern Poetry Review, and 32 Poems. She has had three chapbooks published, as well as two full-length collections of poetry. She lives in central Illinois.