I watched the froth go down and the yellow liquid rise to meet it. I twisted the glass around and it tipped over and spilled on his arthritic knee. I looked to the side and didn’t apologize. His beautiful bony fingers flicked off the foam in separate particles as if it was incidental lint he had finally noticed.
The decision is yours now.
He rubbed the liquid into his pant leg. I sighed. Either decision I make will kill something.
And so, you want to hang in this ether land forever?
Yes.
And if I pulled your hair?
And if I scalded your mouth?
And if I made a teepee of birch billets with you in the centre?
Look at me.
No.
He went away.
Next night the phone rang.
I’ll meet you at Glacier and First Point. You must be exact.
I’ll be there for three evenings.
For three nights I wore myself ragged but couldn’t find where.
Friday evening the doorbell rang. He handed me two books by Aksel Sandemose. I put my fingers exactly where his warm fingerprints still lingered on the top book and closed the door. I read and waited.
(There was a tidal wave and a woman went from window to window with a candle in her hand as her house floated out the bay. They rescued her in St. Lawrence.)
When you are ready, if ever, light your own candle.
Two years later, my hand shook as I held the match. His hair had greyed around the temples and he crippled shyly.
Five years later, two babies look hauntingly like him. He is chopping wood in the backyard. He stops.
Look at me. I fooled you years ago. Glacier is in Iceland and I tore out all the pages where it was written in that book. Do you regret that we called the babies Abstract and Zero? Come feel Aunt Hilda and Didymus under my fingernails.
His gentle laugh ripped the night sky, and I got pregnant again.
Copyright ©:
Agnes Walsh
A few random poems:
- Love’s Wisdom poem – Alfred Austin
- In Memoriam 16: I envy not in any moods poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- The Ringlet poem – Lord Alfred Tennyson poems
- Как заработать на сочинении собственных стихов: варианты заработка денег стихотворениями – Poetry Monster
- A Dream by William Allingham
- The End Of The Library by Weldon Kees
- To His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor by Phillis Wheatley
- Низами Гянджеви – О милый друг, давно пленен я
- The Fair Singer poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Words by Sylvia Plath
- Pensive on Her Dead Gazing, I Heard the Mother of All. by Walt Whitman
- To Sea by Martin Zakovski
- Elephant Dormitory by Russell Edson
- The Secret of the Machines by Rudyard Kipling
- Expressive Moments by Pamela Griffiths
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Italy poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Inspiration poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- In Uncertainty To A Lady poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Doors Of The Temple poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Darkness poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Crapulous Impression poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Complaint Of A Poet Manqué poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- By The Fire poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Books And Thoughts poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Anniversaries poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- A Melody By Scarlatti poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- A Little Memory poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- September
- Scenes Of The Mind
- Revelation
- Return From Business
- Private Property
- Points And Lines
- Poem
- Panic
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works
