Yellow Sweater

A Sunday Poem

Jeanne Hébuterne with Yellow Sweater by Amedeo Modigliani, 1918-19

YELLOW SWEATER

~ There is an old lady in a yellow sweater

standing in the door of her apartment

yelling into an iPhone.

~ I can’t hear what she’s saying because

I’m in my car, sitting at a light and

it’s too cold for me to crack the window.

~ She sways back and forth a little bit,

looks back over her shoulder,

shakes her head and keeps going.

~ It’s dusk and that ice storm everyone is afraid of has begun,

little shards of snow and ice driving against my windshield,

a gust comes up into her face and she winces.

~ I have a warm home waiting for me,

take out tacos in Styrofoam on the seat next to me,

a tank of gas, salt for my driveway.

~ A car honks behind me, green light, I turn away,

Who’s waiting for her?

I drive home.