At the widow meetup
We go around the circle
Many women share
How they hardly remember
Anything
From their first year
I decide
If that’s the case
It would be just fine
To talk about
My recent trip to Delaware
And how I bought
A vibrator
At a discount store
To celebrate
My first New Year’s Eve
Alone
I grin
From ear-to-ear
All the way home
Imagining how you
Would enjoy
Hearing about
Their shocked faces
And wide smiles
No tears tonight
Just gratitude
For the last 20 years
Where I got to enjoy
Being with you
The life of the party
I am pretty sure
That’s what I was
This evening
That is
If you can call
A widow meetup
A party
I guess everyone’s gotta start somewhere
Bonnie Neubauer is the author of creative writing books including The Write-Brain Workbook (Writer’s Digest Books, 2005) and the creator of Story Spinner, a handheld creative writing prompt generator. She is also the widow of a man who always wanted to live off grid and under the radar. To keep his dream alive, none of her poems ever mentions his name; he is always referred to as you. Bonnie is a Certified Life Cycle Celebrant® specializing in innovative nondenominational funerals. She is also a Certified Grief Support Practitioner® who runs grief resilience workshops. When she’s not writing or grieving, Bonnie can be found playing, teaching, or designing board games.
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