Margaret Hasse Verse-Virtual 2017 March

March 2017

I grew up in Vermillion, South Dakota, and was educated at Stanford University (B.A., English) and the University of Minnesota (M.A., English). I started writing poetry when I was a child and never stopped. For the past thirty years, I’ve lived in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where I teach and consult with arts organizations on their plans and programs. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate in receiving some awards for my poetry, including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. My fifth book of poetry, Between Us, was released in 2016. Visit my website at www.MargaretHasse.com

Divorce Proceedings

They cannot live the life they lived before
they lost—house by the river, lamps aglow.
They burn with anger as they slam the door.

How do lovers learn to abhor
each other, to resist shared sorrow?
They cannot live the life they had before.

Trampling on vows they swore,
their violent words fuel an inferno.
They burn with anger as they slam the door.

Contestants who incite attorneys’ war
banish their better angels. No,
they cannot live the life they had before.

A signed decree and marriage is no more.
Wedding china, photos, the blue tent—go.
They continue to burn as they slam the door.

As with love past tense, might their rancor
diminish and dissolve in time’s flow?
They can never live the life they had before
everything burned and they closed the door.

(villanelle by invitation of Firestone Feinberg)

Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to tell him or her. You might say what it is about the poem that moves you. Writing to the author is the beginning of community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -FF