Witch Three

Afterwards, locked
behind glass doors
and packed between
clean linen sheets,
she frees me
to wander her weed
grown yard. I discover
emblems nestled
in cleared patches.
She constructed
stick figures from dead
plants, her children
that watched her pass
short shadows in late
afternoon. She created
wonder from their
fragility, not meant
to last, her hands
a bridge from her
ever more brittle mind
to these brief reminders
of what it is to bring
life into this world.

Richard Dinges has an MA in literary studies from University of Iowa and manages information systems risk at an insurance company. River Poets Journal, Stickman Review, Hurricane Review, WINK, and The Cape Rock have most recently accepted his poems for their publications.