Dear Confidence,
A poem by Lucia Cherciu

Dear Confidence,

friendship is like giving away twelve bulbs of tulips
and receiving a meadow of flowers all your life

right in front of your window, so when you wake up
summer welcomes you with open arms, no matter the season,

no matter what country you’re in.
Whittling down a list of excuses

like a woman who wears a lot of makeup
and would look better without.

The confirming smile shoulders the burden,
blankets the guilt. Listen, let’s make an appointment

in spring when I find out if the mock orange took.
This time I planted the four figs in the ground

and left them to winter outside without any cover.
Next time I won’t meddle with finicky fruit.

The symbiosis of seeds and spring:
the key that unlocks memory,

dredges delight or—
shunning of photographs.

About the Author:

Lucia Cherciu is the author of six books of poetry, including Immigrant Prodigal Daughter (Kelsay Books, June 2023) and Train Ride to Bucharest (Sheep Meadow Press, 2017), which was the winner of the Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize. Her work was nominated multiple times for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her poems appeared in “Poetry,” “Antioch Review,” and elsewhere. Her web page is http://luciacherciu.webs.com.  

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