Or Don’t You Ever Offer Yourself As A Main Course? by Hedy Habra

Unexpected Visit, by Remedios Varo (Mexico, b. Spain) 1958

Or Don’t You Ever Offer Yourself As A Main Course?
  
Wrapped in your finest muslins, long curls loose, you sit by the table set for two, decorated with the utmost care, the same care it took to apply blush and eye shadow. The wind blows rusty leaves through the open door, teases the flame of the flickering candle, its life half spent. The cat has been in and out, tirelessly chasing the leaves littering the hardwood floor. You think of the odds of writing a story in which he’d grow tall, take a seat, share your candlelight dinner.
 
Eyes wide open you stare at the flame, the only source of light, it seems to rise, stretch, and remain still at the same time, casting a golden glow over your dreams, dancing shadows all over the walls. Behind you, a hand emerges from the heavy folds of the wavering drapes, a hand, a replica of yours, reaches out, holds on firmly to your wrist. Fingertips burn your skin, warn you of the times you’ve waited in vain, wearing his favorite perfume. You hear your mother’s voice deafened by the distance, crossing that liminal space that fades away day by day.

Hedy Habra

This was first published by Gargoyle. It also appeared in Hedy Habra's award-winning book, Or Did You Ever See The Other Side? (Press 53 2023).

Hedy Habra's latest poetry collection, Or Did You Ever See The Other Side? won the 2024 International Poetry Book Award and was a Finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award and The USA Best Book Awards. The Taste of the Earth, won the Silver Nautilus Book Award and Honorable Mention for the Eric Hoffer Book Award; Tea in Heliopolis won the Best Poetry Book Award and Under Brushstrokes was a finalist for the International Poetry Book Award. Her story collection, Flying Carpets, won the Arab American Book Award’s Honorable Mention and was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award. Her book of criticism is Mundos alternos y artísticos en Vargas Llosa, She is a twenty one-time-nominee for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. https://www.hedyhabra.com/