Family

    After Nighthawks by Edward Hopper


That woman in red—she could be your Aunt Sheila 
or my sister Carol just finished with a long evening 

at the cash register or a day of cutting and dying
someone’s hair for a night on the town. She’s tired

and just wants a quiet moment before she goes
home to more work. And the man serving her, 

his name is Eddie. He doesn’t expect much,
but he wants a life just like the rest of us.

Just like Grayson there in the suit, who won’t stop
talking. He could be your brother, right? He could be

the answer to someone’s prayer or the worst thing
that ever happened to Carol. And the nameless man

across the way, why is he in our space? Why 
bother us with his cold presence here in the dark?

Sherry Poff writes in and around Ooltewah, Tennessee. She holds an M.A. in writing from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She is a member of the Chattanooga Writers’ Guild and the Poetry Society of Tennessee. Sherry’s work has appeared recently in Women Speak, The Zest of the Lemon, The Clayjar Review, and Speckled Trout Review, among others.