He put his coffee down, gazed into her hazel eyes and asked again, “Am I a part of your heart?
“She looked down at her undisturbed croissant, pulling a few flakes from its edges. Without looking up, she said,
“I can’t breathe.”
He reached over the tattered diner table and placed his weathered hands around hers. They felt like silk. As always. He ran his fingers over the promise ring. The sun managed to dazzle the small diamonds through the streaky restaurant window.
“I don’t understand”, he whispered.
She slowly pulled her hands from his. One tear escaped, rolling over freckles to her plate.
“I feel confined between rigid walls of commitment. I don’t live in the black and white, but here… “
She paused, stared emptily at her ring, then into the pain of his eyes.
“Here, in the tender grey, I swim undisturbed.”
Prosery for dVerse Poets Pub.
Lisa has gifted us the line “Here in the tender grey, I swim undisturbed” taken from the poem “In Sullivan County” by Celia Dropkin. “Prosery” consists of prose, no longer than 144 words and must include a given line from a poem. Feel free to join in.
mishunderstood 
What a perfect context to drop Dropkin’s line into, Mish. The details, like her eye color, her pulling flakes off the croissant, really bring the scene to life. I think she did him a favor by leveling with him, even though I’m sure he didn’t want to hear it.
She’s wise to speak her truth and claim her grey for herself. The details made this a very vivid scene.
Love the way you incorporate the diner and the grey of a wedding ring.
Very nicely done! I love your take on the prompt line. It fits the relationship saga very well.
You made me think about colors so much in this one, black and white are so committed to their colors and destiny, but swimming in the gray would definitely appeal to bachelor life! 👍👏👏
So poignant. I agree with others about the small details. I especially liked her pulling at the croissant. I think she made a difficult, but wise decision.
I like the details in this, the diamond glitter of promise in the grey of reality. Grey is calm and soothing as well as gloomy.
I think we all found stories of parting in that tender gray… really good story telling.
I found it very moving ❤
Whoa! The details are otherworldly, bravo.
Thank you, Jay!