Archive - Vistas & Byways Review - Spring 2020
  • Contents
    • In This Issue
    • Fiction
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Bay Area Byways
    • Bay Area Stew
    • Inside OLLI
  • About Us
  • Contributors
  • Submissions
  • LATEST V&B ISSUE

​POETRY

Stern Grove Park,  San Francisco  -  Photo by Jessica Jones

You Invited Me on a Picnic *
​by Vivian Imperiale

​It was time to go.
I walked outside to wait for you.
 
You were picking me up for a picnic
and I was delighted I’d be with you.
 
You didn’t talk about 
your AIDS diagnosis—  ​
mysterious letters I didn’t comprehend.
What was that, anyway?
 
Instead you were just you,
which was everything—the perfect man.
Your laughter, your wit, your exuberance
kept me smiling and, as always, adoring you.
 
It was time to go.
You picked up your picnic blanket.
 
You carefully folded it
and handed it to me.
“Here. Take it.
I won’t be needing it anymore.”
 
That’s how you told me.
It was time to go.

* Previously published in CCSF’s Forum Magazine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vivian (Sinick) Imperiale left her 18-year career as support staff in a real estate office because of a chance encounter with a man with schizophrenia. Since then, she has been a mental health advocate for over 40 years, including 20 years employed in the field. Vivian has a BA in Psychology and an MA in Special Education.
       
Other works in this issue:
Poetry
​Aging Together  
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​Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University​.
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University​ (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to the Vistas & Byways  volunteer staff.

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  • Contents
    • In This Issue
    • Fiction
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Bay Area Byways
    • Bay Area Stew
    • Inside OLLI
  • About Us
  • Contributors
  • Submissions
  • LATEST V&B ISSUE