Toast -- Leonard Nathan

(Poem #1)Toast There was a woman in Ithaca who cried softly all night in the next room and helpless I fell in love with her under the blanket of snow that settled on all the roofs of the town, filling up every dark depression. Next morning in the motel coffee shop I studied all the made-up faces of women. Was it the middle-aged blonde who kidded the waitress or the young brunette lifting her cup like a toast? Love, whoever you are, your courage was my companion for many cold towns after the betrayal of Ithaca, and when I order coffee in a strange place, still I say, lifting, this is for you. -- Leonard Nathan