Atrocity

“Fade to Black” by David Goodrum

“I have suffered the atrocity of sunsets.”
- From “Elm,” by Sylvia Plath

The way December’s sky is
vintage blue and full
of dull stars.

The way December’s sky is
an empty cedar box,
an acceptance of absence,

the silence
between dead trees.
We still lie face to face

and drink in
the scent of new wood
even as our spring memories change.

Remember
when we watched that stranger
couple’s wedding on Malibu Beach,

when we held the sand’s gold,
when we held
onto love.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Natalie Marino is a poet and physician. Her work appears in Atlas and Alice, Hobart, Isele Magazine, Pleiades, Rust + Moth, The Shore, and elsewhere. Her chapbook, Memories of Stars, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press (June 2023). She lives in California.

about the artist

David A. Goodrum is a photographer and writer living in Corvallis, Oregon. His photos are forthcoming or have been published in Cirque Journal, Wild Roof Journal, Ilanot Review, Willows Wept Review, Blue Mesa Review, and other journals. He has showcased his photography at several regional juried art festivals in cities such as St. Louis Missouri, Columbus and Cincinnati Ohio, Ann Arbor Michigan, Bloomington and Indianapolis Indiana, and Madison Wisconsin. Additional work (both photography and poetry) can be viewed at www.davidgoodrum.com.