From the just released Eye to the Telescope

What It Tastes Like
by Gerri Leen

He’s in the officer’s club
In the section that says
“Bad day, leave me alone”
When he sees her coming, wearing a
Sympathetic smile as she sets a glass of
What is probably his favorite
Bourbon in front of him and sits
She was his first officer
Now she has her own ship
Her eyes are full of compassion
“They were good people”
He raises his glass, unsure how
She knows this fast, but glad she does
“They were. To the dead”
She lifts her glass: “Never forgotten”
The bourbon tastes like sorrow and regret

He watches her find a table in the O Club
In the same section he did a few weeks earlier
She holds her side as she slides into the booth
“Two Shirley Temples” he orders
Then carries them over
“What are those?” Her eyes are wary
“Things that won’t interfere with
The no doubt very good pain meds you’re on”
“You brought two—you’re forgoing booze?”
He nods because for this she needs sober company
She survived the skirmish; others didn’t
Her first casualties
“You want to talk about it?”
“Really don’t.” But she does anyway
The Shirley Temple tastes like trust and pain

He has a bottle of champagne, is waiting for her
Even though he hasn’t asked her to come
But a captain they served under has made admiral
And he knows she’ll find him
And she does, her smile playful as she stops
At the door, as if she might not come in
But she does then bumps him with her hip
So he moves down the booth as she slides
In next to him, saying others are coming
Fellow crewmates, who smile as they join them
And then their captain now admiral
Pulling up a chair to sit at the head
With a huge grin on their face
He opens the bottle and they all toast
One of the good ones getting rewarded
The champagne tastes like liquid joy

He’s at the bar, enjoying a beer
She slides onto the stool next to him
Tells the bartender-bot she’ll order later
Not her style—he studies her
She’s blushing, also not her style
“We’re the same rank now and you’re
Not my boss and I’m not your subordinate
And I want to ask you out but if you’re
Going to say no, then just tell me now so I
Can flee and drink somewhere else… forever”
He’s marveling at how many words
She got out so fast and how red her
Face is but he plays it cool, waves over
The bar-bot and orders her a beer
“You’re saying yes?”
“I am. And thanks for asking first”
They clink their bottles, her eyes are
As soft as he’s ever seen them,
He’s pretty sure his are too
The beer tastes like respect and love and things
They never reached for before their time

—Gerri Leen

#poem #poetry #literature #SFPoetry