“Café Des Artistes” by Sally Taylor Tawil
her first sips of the Chateau Margaux surprised—
slid velvet down her white throat
edged with tinier, whiter pearls.
finest vintage ever produced, he promised—
what are promises but the succulent
heady swollen majestic fullness
of the purple grape
before it is ravaged from its vine
broken squeezed compromised entirely
unrecognizable
as the one she promised herself to—
beautiful still, but changed, changed.
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Sally Taylor Tawil Artist Statement:
Sally Taylor Tawil earned a B.S from the Leonard N. Stern School of
Business at New York University. She is currently pursuing an MA in
English at Monmouth University where she was the 2015 inaugural
recipient of the Joyce Carol Oates award for Creative Non-Fiction, for her
essay entitled, Spellbound. She lives on the Jersey Shore with her
husband and their five children.