Mimi White
Souvenir
The last gift I gave him
our final summer at the island
was a fake ivory cribbage set
that I knew he would never play,
and a crisp deck of cards
he easily shuffled like a waterfall
of clattering wings. Do that again,
just for me,
the sound that your hands could make
from glossy paper and air.
Your hands still mine to hold
before the lamps
are lit, before the sky
burns out.
Mimi White has published four collections of poetry. Her chapbook, The Singed Horizon was selected by Robert Creeley as the winner of The Philbrick Poetry Award, The Last Island was awarded the Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Poetry. Her most recent collection, The Arc Remains is available from Deerbrook Editions. She has published in dozens of journals including FIELD, Poetry, and Lunation. She is a long-time resident of Rye, NH.