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:
- My arm for a pillow by Yosa Buson
- How Solemn as One by One. by Walt Whitman
- Владимир Корнилов – Платформа 126-го км
- One of the Lives by W. S. Merwin
- Epigram—The Keekin Glass by Robert Burns
- Владимир Луговской – Баллада о пустыне
- Николай Гумилев – Левин, Левин, ты суров
- Never Sure Which You Are by Mary Etta Metcalf
- I’m My Own Grandpa by Shel Silverstein
- Алексей Жемчужников – Уже давно иду я, утомленный
- Наум Коржавин – На друга-поэта
- Иван Мятлев – Бывало
- Владислав Крапивин – Когда тебя замучил враг
- Николай Языков – Я. П. Полонскому (Благодарю тебя за твой подарок милой…)
- Verdad Innegable by Victoria Luisa Mora Paoli
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
- Today by Satish Verma
- TIRELESSLY by Satish Verma
- THE WHEELS by Satish Verma
- THE WAX PALACE by Satish Verma
- THE WARS by Satish Verma
- THE MOSAIC by Satish Verma
- The Fall by Satish Verma
- That Is by Satish Verma
- Tall Claims by Satish Verma
- Taking On by Satish Verma
- Taking Off by Satish Verma
- SURVIVAL by Satish Verma
- STUNNED by Satish Verma
- STRIPED NOTHINGS by Satish Verma
- Stray Colors by Satish Verma
- STRANGE HAPPENINGS by Satish Verma
- STONEWASHED by Satish Verma
- STEPPING OUT by Satish Verma
- SOVEREIGNTY by Satish Verma
- Song Of Unquiet Spirit by Satish Verma
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
