Hotel by Masticadores«Kissed» by Selma Martin
«Kissed» by Selma Martin
when the bar exhausted
and the musicians packed
the guests retreated early
when under the mistletoe sat I lonely
one last candle burning lowly
casting shadows near my chair
when no footsteps came
where I sat only
tired I was, nodding lonely
when beneath the mistletoe sat I,
the candle burning lowly;
shadows danced in patterned rhythm
when someone came and kissed me there,
yes, someone came and kissed me there.
Copyright ©️ Selma
“Love came down at Christmas.
Love all lovely, Love Divine,
Love was born at Christmas,
Stars and Angels gave the sign.”
~ Christina Rossetti
Selma Martin is a retired English teacher with 20 years of experience teaching children ESL. She believes in people’s goodness and in finding balance in simple living. She lives in Japan with her husband of 35 years. In 2018, Selma participated in a networking course whose final lesson was to publish a story on Amazon. She completed the course and self-published her short story, Wanted: Husband/Handyman, in 2019, and later, collaborating with peers from that course, she published Wanted: Husband/Handyman in Once Upon A Story: A Short Fiction Anthology. Selma has published stories on Medium for many years, in MasticadoresUSA, The Poetorium At Starlight, Short Fiction Break, Lit eZine, and Spillwords. In July 2023, she published her debut poetry collection, In the Shadow of Rainbows (Experiments in Fiction). You can find Selma as selmawrites on Instagram and Twitter, and on Instagram and Twitter, and on her website, selmamartin.com.
