Claine Keily#9 Warm Cider

She came home late
so the candles would be
burnt to black
and when she knew he would be
finished eating

She had been like this
for years now
ever since she looked
in his address book
and found her name
a mere note
in the margins

She remembered days
of cider warm
and popcorn even
the television never on
wine on the coffee table between them
and the map he placed
in her pocket
so as she would not lose her way