your mistake
i looked past your pink scrubbed skin
the pen in the pocket of your shirt
and tried to see your heart
maybe
i thought
maybe
we dined but never really danced
still i hoped
i wanted it to be you
even though you were always nervous
wearing abandonment like a raincoat
your eyes full of remembered disappointments
but the night you brought me hothouse roses
i knew it was no good
you couldn't see past my company manners
into the cracks that cement me
you mistook me for an ordinary woman
RC deWinter’s poetry has been anthologized in New York City Haiku (NY Times, 2017), Uno: A Poetry Anthology (Verian Thomas, 2002), and featured in print in 2River View, Pink Panther Magazine, Another Sun, Plum Ruby Review and in numerous online publications. Down in the Dirt will feature two pieces in its Jan/Feb 2019 print edition.