When I Married Halld R Laxness

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

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random 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 

• Songs of Joy by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Seeking Beauty by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Sadness and Joy by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Rich or Poor by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Rich Days by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• No Master by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Nell Barnes by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Money by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Leisure by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Laughing Rose by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Joy and Pleasure by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• William Henry Davies – William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• In the Country by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• In May by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Days Too Short by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Come, Let Us Find by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Charms by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• April’s Charms by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• All in June by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies
• Ale by William Henry Davies by William Henry Davies

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

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

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works