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:
- Владимир Маяковский – Долой мешечников (РОСТА №525)
- My Friends by W. S. Merwin
- The Shepherd O’ The Farm by William Barnes
- The Jailer by Sylvia Plath
- That Is by Satish Verma
- Спиридон Дрожжин – В деревне
- The Freedom Of Poetry by Ndue Ukaj
- Sonnet LXIX by William Shakespeare
- Villion’s Ballade Of Good Counsel, To His Friends Of Evil Life poem – Andrew Lang poems
- Elixer Vitæ poem – Ambrose Bierce poems | Poems and Poetry
- On Certain Ladies poem – Alexander Pope
- Fragment—Her Flwoing Locks by Robert Burns
- Journal Entry poem – Ysabelle Moriarty poems | Poetry Monster
- Epistle To Mrs Teresa Blount.[On Her Leaving The Town After The Coronation] poem – Alexander Pope
- Sonnet: As From The Darkening Gloom A Silver Dove poem – John Keats poems
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
- MOURNING by Satish Verma
- Moony Affair by Satish Verma
- Monument by Satish Verma
- Metaphysical View by Satish Verma
- MANY NAMESAKES by Satish Verma
- Lying on a Slab by Satish Verma
- Lunar Eclipse by Satish Verma
- Live Baits by Satish Verma
- Listening To Rwanda Genocide by Satish Verma
- INTO THE LAIR by Satish Verma
- Intimidation by Satish Verma
- In Transit by Satish Verma
- In Thoughtless Mind by Satish Verma
- In Abeyance by Satish Verma
- In a Sombre Mood by Satish Verma
- Impresa by Satish Verma
- Immaculacy by Satish Verma
- I Begin To Think by Satish Verma
- Hurting Dive by Satish Verma
- Homing 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
