‘Innovative Thinking’: A Poem by Janice Canerdy

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Innovative Thinking

My long-time love gave me a special gift,
a photo of himself when he was young.
He even autographed it: “Love you! Dave.”
From then, upon my wall this treasure hung
where I could always gaze at it—but then
his love, if it was love, began to die.
Who breaks up with someone he doesn’t hate
on Christmas Day? All I could do was cry.

I took the stark reminder of heartbreak
and laid it on a shelf in my spare room.
My wall now bears instead a lovely print
of red and yellow roses in full bloom.

From time to time, I think, when I am gone,
what will the kids do with my mass of things?
It’s then I start to throw some stuff away.
At times, a sense of loss, this cleansing brings.

I parted with some things in ’23.
One gem I almost tossed, I’m glad to say,
I kept and put it to creative use.
It serves a unique purpose to this day.

My bedside table never sat quite right.
One leg is shorter than the other three.
Dave’s picture, folded twice, now fills that spot.
Successful reasoning gives me such glee!

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Janice Canerdy is a retired high-school English teacher from Potts Camp, Mississippi. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications: anthologies by Quill Books, Mississippi Poetry Society, the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, journals and magazines: Westward Quarterly, Lyric, Lighten Up Online, Saturday Evening Post, and more. She has had two books published: Expressions of Faith (Christian Faith Publishing, 2016, out of print) and From Serious to Slapstick~~Poems Like Life (Mississippi Poetry Society, Inc., 2024). She is an active member of the Mississippi Poetry Society, Inc.