Breath & Shadow
Summer 2020 - Vol. 17, Issue 2
"Sometimes In The Evening"
written by
Marilyn McVicker
Sometimes, in the evening, I get the urge
to go to a poetry slam, share a bucket
of popcorn at the latest movie,
go to the Orange Peel and dance all night.
Sometimes, on a summer evening
I get the urge to put my hair up, go out
for a root beer float, go down to the harbor,
sip frozen daiquiris, strut my stuff.
Sometimes, when the shadows lengthen
at the end of a long day, I want to see
familiar faces, share a bottle of wine,
good-natured belly laughs, be among
those who love me, be a part of the world,
see, hear, touch, feel, smell and taste.
You would think, after all these years
of isolation and solitude, these urges
would fade.
Marilyn McVicker had her first poem published in 1980. Her poetry has most recently been published in Kakalak, Earth’s Daughters, Front Porch Review, Red Clay Review, The Prompt, several anthologies, and other periodicals. She has published articles and essays, a non-fiction book, Sauna Detoxification Therapy, with McFarland & Co., in 1997, and a poetry chapbook, Some Shimmer of You, with Finishing Line Press, in
2014. She has read her poetry at Western Carolina University’s Literary Festival, the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival, Malaprop’s Bookstore, local community colleges, libraries, and other venues. She is a member of the North Carolina Poetry Society, and mentored under Dr. Richard Chess through their Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series in 2012. She continues to work with Pat Riviere-Seel, past president of the
NCPS, and author of three poetry collections. Marilyn’s fascination with words and self-expression stems from her previous career as a solo flutist and music educator. She
retired to a remote cove in the rural mountains of western North Carolina in 1997.