I’m Not Any Of the Things I Used to Be LI The Atlanta Review Fall / Winter 2020

 Dear Husband,
  
 Do tomatoes    green and flush on the vine      
 in autumn    regret 
 they never ripened?    Will I 
 regret  not picking them  making jam                
 filling shelves in the pantry?
 What is regret    other than a wish 
                       to have been better?          
  
 I didn’t think    I’d keep    
 getting to know you    
                        after    you died.
  
 The guide in Nepal    told me repeatedly
 itinerary subject to reality. 
 Kept me moving     even the morning 
 the snow flecked into our tea cups.   
 The refugee    on the radio    said the rich 
 and the poor          are the same          
 only the rich          are more comfortable.