Instead of War, by Amy Ralston Seife

Red Chairs, by Gail Spaien (USA) contemporary. Click image for artist site.

Instead of War
 
I imagine for you 
two chairs untoppled,
stained red with only paint,
their frail spindles intact,
seats spattered with the spray 
of powdered sugar 
from warm pastries.
 
I imagine for you
an ordinary day that will hold
no significance for your grandchildren --
the sun setting on nothing 
more eventful than doing what
you did the day before
and will do again tomorrow. 
 
I imagine you departed 
from this room for no reason
other than to freshen 
your cup of tea, or tell your husband
you found the puzzle piece
that has long evaded you
under the old braided rug.
 
I imagine, across a horizon
of glittering sand, 
another couple  
—your neighbors--
about to sit down 
with tea and laughter
to ponder the same puzzle.

Amy Ralston Seife

Amy Ralston Seife is a poet and short story writer whose work has appeared in One Art, The Bellevue Literary Review, Literary Mama, The Ekphrastic Review, Quartet, MER Vox Folio, and elsewhere. She has been nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology and Pushcart Prizes, and is the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Westchester Review.