Cry Me a River
by Perry S. Nicholas
Remember? I remember all that you said.
You told me love was too plebian,
told me you were through with me and…
Even though we were travelling together,
we were separated on the flight home,
ended up sitting half an airplane away, still angry.
It might as well have been a mile of black sky.
I located the clip on the back of your hair,
but you couldn’t spot me at all over your shoulder.
We panicked, then laughed when we told
each other later of a similar thought:
what if this plane went down, and we perished
at odds, you dodging a puking baby, me
holding onto an old man gabbing grammar?
I’d reach for you mouthing our sad song in slow motion.
Hands extended across the seats, our love
falling hard into a river, a divided descent.
EDITOR’S NOTE: “Cry Me a River,” written by Arthur Hamilton in 1953, was popularized by Julie London in her 1955 recording and subsequent TV appearances.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Perry S. Nicholas is an Associate English professor at Erie Community College North in Buffalo, N.Y. where he was awarded the 2008 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Scholarship and Creative Activities and the 2011 President’s Award for Classroom Instruction. He received the SGA’s Outstanding Teacher Award on two occasions. He has published six books and one CD of poetry.
Silver Birch Press 