That Day With Me

Donna Freeman

September 2, 2022

You take me fishing

Just you and me

And in the quiet waters

I find a tranquility

I never have with you at home.

Mom says it is good to be like this.

I watch your fingers

clench the rod

pull the line

toss it out

spin the reel again.

I try the same

but would be content

to let my small hands be still

and only my eyes follow you.

You are kind now,

take me into your world

help steady me

when the wood boat sways.

But the fish aren’t biting.

You say you’ve had enough.

Time to go.

Suddenly you stop the car.

A man with a badge stands in front

says you drove too fast. 

You make that face you do.

I watch your hand reach 

into your pocket

fumble for a ten-dollar bill,

drop it out the window.

It falls next to the man.

You leave it there.

You smile.

The lake is rough now.

Your hand stays tight on the steering wheel.

My stomach suddenly hurts.

I want to go.

The road home will be bumpy.

and home seems far away.

I never look into your eyes again.

Donna Freeman’s poems have appeared in Wilderness House Literary Review, Blue Lake Review, Ocean State Poets Anthology, RI Public's Radio “Virtual Gallery,” and Imago gallery. Wickford Art Gallery will display another poem of Donna’s and publish it in a book in September for their themed show “Hope.”