Fairy lights # 96 Claine Keily

Her father said
" You need a husband
to look after,
to love."

Already there were
parts of her
that ached from his announcement
she could see her husband
unmoving
smoking and drinking whiskey
the way her step father had
grey from smoke and lack of air

She wanted
to do something
she had never done before
" I want to write sonnets in the dark
and use my blood to write letters",
she replied firmly.

Her father took a deep breath
then departed
after firstly rearranging
the fairy lights around
her front door