Susan Didn’t Take Anyone With Her

She rested on a log and tossed
The fresh chips,
With a song only to herself
On her lips.

from “The Hill Wife”
by Robert Frost
quoted in Why I Almost
Never Use Rhyme

“Where’s Susan?” Jeremy asked, coming in.
Chelsea laughed. She pointed. “Susan’s right there.”
Chelsea stopped laughing. She could only stare.
“Where’s Susan?” Chelsea asked. She tried to grin.

Trish hemmed a long skirt, sticking in a pin.
“Practical jokers,” Trish said, “what a pair.”
Jeremy and Chelsea would only glare.
“Where’s Susan?” Trish asked by her mannequin.

Susan sat at the piano playing
and the music she played took her away
and only her like a thoughtful filter.

Jeremy, Chelsea and Trish were staying,
lost, confused—“Where’s Susan?” all they could say.
Susan didn’t take anyone with her.