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:
- John Milton – John Milton Poems
- Old Man Poet by Raj Arumugam
- Владимир Степанов – Мышь и кошка
- A PASTORAL SUNG TO THE KING by Robert Herrick
- ASHA APARTMENTS, 416, S.V. ROAD by Santosh Kumar Panda
- Scenes Of The Mind poem – Aldous Huxley poems | Poetry Monster
- Огюст Барбье – Видимость
- Владимир Маяковский – Увеличивается ли питание Москвы… (Главполитпросвет №234)
- The Redbreast Chasing The Butterfly by William Wordsworth
- Caledonia: A Ballad by Robert Burns
- At Sea by Sara Teasdale
- Владимир Британишский – Другу
- Владимир Британишский – Сон: в детстве, весной, в лесу
- Two Campers In Cloud Country by Sylvia Plath
- Аля Кудряшева – Трилогия перед годом (Цепочка ассоциаций)
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
- Song. A Beautiful Mistress. by Thomas Carew
- Song by Thomas Carew
- Secrecy Protested. by Thomas Carew
- Persuasions to Joy, a Song by Thomas Carew
- My Mistress Commanding Me to Return Her Letters. by Thomas Carew
- Mediocrity in Love Rejected by Thomas Carew
- Lips and Eyes. by Thomas Carew
- Know, Celia, Since Thou Art So Proud by Thomas Carew
- Ingrateful Beauty Threatened by Thomas Carew
- I Do Not Love Thee For That Fair by Thomas Carew
- He That Loves A Rosy Cheek by Thomas Carew
- Epitaph On the Lady Mary Villiers by Thomas Carew
- Epitaph for Maria Wentworth by Thomas Carew
- Disdain Returned by Thomas Carew
- Celia Beeding, To the Surgeon by Thomas Carew
- Boldness in Love by Thomas Carew
- Ask Me No More by Thomas Carew
- Another by Thomas Carew
- An Elegy upon the Death of the Dean of St. Paul’s, Dr. John by Thomas Carew
- A Song: When June is Past, the Fading Rose by Thomas Carew
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
