HALF MOON
Lucy Mercer Rutherford to Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Eleanor’s delicate stomach
on the sea, my own love
of turbulence, made a haven
for us those months
until she found my letters,
saw the ribboned packet
and could not resist.
I see her frozen as she understood.
She must have told you
with that face always set on a plan,
but you did not have to tell me.
I knew when you sold our Moon.
Then it was not the wake behind us
marking our voyage,
but the wake of her anger
stealing the vessel of our love.
Janet Lee Warman
Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Janet Lee Warman has taught high school English and is now a Professor of English and Education at Elon University in North Carolina. She has an M.Ed. in special education/emotional disturbance, an M.A. in English with a concentration in writing, and a Ph.D. in English, with a focus on literature. She has had numerous poems published in small journals nationally.