Front Door
Linda Goodman Robiner
I. I hear the chime of the bell
as I’m ready to shower,
assume an Amazon delivery,
walk to the door, legs bare
up to my long turquoise t-shirt.
The woman and man look like
young people in a 40s movie.
I don’t even notice Bibles,
but I hope not to scandalize
the Latter Day Saints,
Mormons who have come
to the door to sell their god.
II. My man and I, each
in t-shirts and long pants, ring
a new neighbor’s doorbell
in mid-afternoon. No one comes.
We try again the next day.
Seeing us in their camera app
they tell us they pondered
calling the police. The police?
Mind you, we touched
their doorbell, didn’t dig up
a gardenia bush, their dwarf azalea.
How dangerous-looking
are we elders with our quilted
faces, me in my lilac sun hat?
Linda is deeply moved by the rich art offerings in Sarasota and Cleveland. Before writing took center stage for her, she ran a cutting-edge Master’s level program in aesthetics at Cleveland State University and was an adjunct professor at several other colleges and universities. She enjoyed producing five PBS series. Post-retirement, she facilitated writing workshops and worked as an editor and writing coach. Many of her poems, short stories, and articles were published in journals and anthologies. Her recent poetry collection is called Chrysalis. Her chapbook, Reverse Fairy Tale, traces the end of a marriage.