![\"NaPoWriMo\"](\"https:\/\/riverwriter.ca\/wordcurrents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/NaPoWriMo-150x136.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The handle of the vacuum cleaner
\nhung on his hand like
\nthe ring in a bull\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n
Retired one week
\nand already he was
\nhalf way down
\nthe main staircase
\nvacuuming the blood
\nred carpet runner.<\/p>\n
If she knew, Rita,
\nhis ex-secretary,
\nwould be staring
\nincredulously.
\nThe news would drop
\nlike a stone into
\na reflecting pond.
\nWas he making his
\nown coffee too?<\/p>\n
How many treads?
\nonly fourteen?
\nIt seemed like fifty.
\nHe descended another step
\nand began a clumsy Veronica
\nwith the cleaner\u2019s hose.<\/p>\n
He turned off the howling machine
\nsought the contemplative
\nsilence of the stairs
\nknelt, placed a figurative
\ngold coin in the dust before him
\nKissed it, dedicated
\nthe blood of the afternoon
\nto the mantilla of his lady.<\/p>\n
Wasn\u2019t retirement about
\ndoing what you wanted
\nwhen you wanted?
\nHe wanted to sip cool sangria.
\nHe wanted to sail the Spanish Main
\nHe did not want to be the
\namateur matador in a corrida,
\nbut he had no choice:
\nhe had chosen this.<\/p>\n
He had planned
\nall his working life
\nfor retirement.
\nAnd this was it?
\nVacuuming the stairs
\nbefore he changed into
\nthe suit of lights
\nfor his own retirement party.<\/p>\n
Usually such parties were
\nsurprises or so he had thought.
\nThe only surprise about this was
\nthe vacuuming part.
\nAnd the dusting part
\nAnd the silverware cleaning.
\nPray for a quick death
\nhe thought, in the afternoon.<\/p>\n
Who would have thought
\nretirement would make
\ntear him like a horn
\ngoring a passing cape.
\nHe shuddered
\nhe knew something
\nwas going to have to change
\nand deep in his heart
\nhe knew it would be he.<\/p>\n
NaPoWriMo 19: Retirement is not what you might expect; finally, after thirty years of marriage, you get what you once would have given your soul for: to live alone with your spouse. Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"