Renovation Waltz

Touch: The Journal of Healing

Renovation Waltz

by David Olsen

The old terrace house had been neglected.

So much to mend now: shower, central heat,

forgiveness of paint. She was drawn by

the river’s mauve and pewter dawns

and the wake-calligraphy of swans and geese,

grebes and gulls. She’d fled a violent

dissonance to start again with a new partner.

In a measured dance from room to room,

she’s found confidence in restored grace

and the lingering fermata of a kiss.

David Olsen's third poetry chapbook, Sailing to Atlantis, is new from Finishing Line Press. Since early 2011, he has placed poems in Acumen, Envoi, SAW Poetry, Orbis, Assent, Interpreter’s House, Bloodroot, Deronda Review, Scintilla, Babel, Sounds of Surprise, and competition anthologies from Cinnamon Press and Templar Poetry.