At The Laidla Restaurant After External Beam Radiation
Richard Widerkehr
In the tapestry over our corner table, black-and-white clouds
in moonlight—a woman in crimson plucks her harp.
As I lay on a table in the Infinity Room
under a Calypso 4-D localization system, my doctor
said, Drink lots of water. In the tapestry, red pleats
and creases, the swell of the woman’s belly—
cloud lines follow notes and scrolls her fingers
have unfolded. What is it? asks Linda.
We have no son, no daughter.
Richard Widerkehr won two Hopwood Awards for poetry at the University of Michigan, where he earned his B.A. in English. He received his M.A. from Columbia University, which he attended on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. He won first prize for short story at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, three awards in The Bridge’s annual poetry contests, and three Sue C. Boynton Contest Awards. Recent poems have appeared in the award-winning Take A Stand: Art Against Hate (Raven Chronicles), Sweet Tree Review, and Atlanta Review. He reads poems for Shark Reef Review.