Years ago, I got divorced

& moved to a different county

& didn’t leave a forwarding address

& bounced a check at the grocery store

& when I finally tried to pay it,

I got arrested.

I had to go to court

& the judge joked that my fine should have been bigger

& all the lawyers laughed

& I came close to crying in front of everybody

& I was terrified I might go to the prison farm, but

they let me pay the clerk, and I was free to go.

The sky was dark when I got outside

& a thunderstorm was about to break

& I shouldn’t have stopped at that roadside stand

& spent my grocery money on two flats of strawberries

&  fantasized about making jam

while loading them into the back seat of the car.

Then it started raining really hard

& my old car had no air-conditioning

& I had to roll the windows up

& I was surrounded by the hot, intoxicating scent of strawberries

& Aretha came on the radio, so

I drove home rejoicing wildly in my freedom and my lucky life.

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Sharon Weightman Hoffmann is a writer based in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Publications include The Hooghly Review, New York Quarterly, Beloit Poetry Journal, Alice Walker: Critical Perspectives (Harvard University Press), Isle of Flowers (Anhinga Press), South Florida Poetry Journal, Letters, Poetica, Wild Roof, Sho, Qu and other magazines. Awards include fellowships from Atlantic Center for the Arts and Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs, and three Pushcart nominations.