Untold by Corey D. Cook

She stands at the kitchen sink
in a threadbare bathrobe,
her hair a dissipating cloud
of steel wool,
face a torrent of wrinkles.
Stares out the window
at the rusty trucks in the field,
each one an angry wound.

Behind her and down the hall…

Their son’s childhood bedroom,
his baseball trophies still lined up
on the dresser,
the gold finish dulled
by a thickening layer of dust.
A school photo tacked
to the wall,
bleached by the sun,
the smiling face slowly receding.
An open diary on the desk,
its lock broken,
pages ripped out.

Her husband occupies the living room,
sits in his straight-backed chair.
Turned away from the kitchen,
hallway and bedroom.
Watches TV as a microwave dinner cools
on his lap.
A father and son argue on the sitcom,
minutes later there is an apology,
he averts his jaundiced eyes
when the actors embrace.

Corey D. Cook's sixth chapbook, Junk Drawer, will be published by Finishing Line Press in February of 2022. His work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in As It Ought To Be, Boston Literary Magazine, Freshwater Literary Journal, Muddy River Poetry Review, Naugatuck River Review, Nixes Mate Review, and South Florida Poetry Journal. He works at a hospital in New Hampshire and lives in East Thetford, Vermont.