Jazz musicians are forgiven
The sin of several wives,
But their marriages
Must not be menial.
They must be art—
Ballads of rich, wrenching chords.
I eased the needle from his arm.
I prayed over his dumbed fingers.
I am the then-wife.
A tune built on suspended chords.
I am a pedal point—
The note that does not fit.
Michelle R. Smith is a mother, daughter, writer, teacher, lover, fighter, seeker, finder, sister, and outsider, living and working in Twinsburg, Ohio. She has had poems published in Poemmemoirstory, Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism, and Guide to Kulchur Creative Journal. Her first published volume of poetry is Ariel in Black on Guide to Kulchur (GTK) Press.