Bartok threads through

dark books of Renaissance drawings,

knowledge, leather bound,

lines the walls and

reflects the deep red rug

with its patterns of Persian

gold and blue.

We sit on moss green velvet

and turn to one another

over sherry

over wine

that smells of cinnamon.

Ah yes, I nod, and pull

cigarette smoke in

to mingle

with my drink and

make my words pay passage

through this rite.

So different from

music from the television:

pumpkins grinning on paper napkins

school papers taped to refrigerator doors

the bouncing sound of the basket-ball

the stained blue rug

the gym clothes on the floor

pattern, the pillows, the

cinnamon tea

that remind me of my purpose

before I hear my name

and I am pulled

 back to Bartok.

Rosanne Ehrlich’s previous publications are “Voice Over” in Chicken Soup for the Soul, “Another Disney Fan Bites the Dust”(flash) in Persimmon Tree Metafore Magazine published “What I Learned When I Went Back to School” and “The Great Pen Robbery” published in Glitter Literary Journal. She has also written several television documentaries forThe Great Ships series on The History Channel.