Long Weekend by Alarie Tennille

Hotel Room, by Edward Hopper, 1931.

Long Weekend
 
“You’ll never find a man
with your nose in a book.”
How many times has Irma heard
that? So she sits in the Paradise
Hotel with no view, not even
a decent lamp.  Mama’s idea:
“You have to put yourself out
there. At least go read on a beach.
Those legs of yours will do
the talking.”
 
The tangerine swimsuit
seemed exotic back in Omaha.
Checking the mirror, she sees
only a Dreamsicle on a long stick.
What choice does she have?
She studies the room service menu.

Alarie Tennille

Alarie Tennille was born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, and graduated from the University of Virginia in the first class admitting women. She became fascinated by fine art at an early age, even though she had to go to the World Book Encyclopedia to find it. Today she visits museums everywhere she travels and spends time at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, where her husband is a volunteer guide. Alarie’s poetry book, Running Counterclockwise, contains many ekphrastic poems. Please visit her at alariepoet.com.