Warm Bologna Sandwiches

by Richard LeDue

I wrote a lot in my youth

about kisses that never were,

where blood didn't mean a test

for high cholesterol or liver enzymes,

but was the same colour as my hope

of falling into welcoming arms,

only to realize no one cared about me

having a parachute, except myself,

and even if the warm bologna sandwiches

packed in my backpack

each day would never become roses,

the mustard highlighted

my own practicality, which helped me

starve the sort of loneliness

that could have grown old with me,

if I had let it.

Richard LeDue (he/him) lives in Norway House, Manitoba, Canada. He has been published both online and in print. He is the author of eleven books of poetry. His latest full-length book, Sometimes, It Isn't Much, was released from Alien Buddha Press in February 2024, and his latest chapbook, Mourning for the Petals, was self-published online for Kindle in November 2024 as an experiment.