Letting Go

by Gary Carter

as the final act
my mother’s silverware flees the scene
its weathered wood case scarred
by years of holidays & dinners
clutched greedily to the breast of a helmet-haired harpy
with victory in her eyes
having beaten my sister down & down
until she no longer cared about dollars
only wanted that shrill voice to shut up & go away
grief enough already attached to a three-act drama
of sickness death & dissolution

perhaps now the curtain finally can fall

Gary Carter’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in such eclectic outlets as Nashville Review, Steel Toe Review, Dead Mule, The Voices Project, Silver Birch, Real South, Delta Poetry Review and Read Short Fiction. Forthcoming is a collection of short fiction entitled Kicking Dante’s Ass and a new novel, Not Dark Yet, is making the rounds. Based in North Carolina, Carter also sells a little real estate on the side. Read his previous poems in Deep South here.