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:
- A dragonfly that committed suicide by Preeth Nambiar
- Prison Souvenirs, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: Prière by T. Wignesan.
- Владимир Маяковский – Совет Труда и Обороны сделал ассигнование миллионное… ( Главполитпросвет №64)
- Orlando Furioso Canto 8 by Ludovico Ariosto
- Morning Poem #40 by Wanda Phipps
- Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind by Stephen Crane
- A Goddess by Tanisha Avarsekar
- Concerning Emperors by Vachel Lindsay
- Sonnet CXII by William Shakespeare
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня Билла Сиггера
- By Broad Potomac’s Shore. by Walt Whitman
- Николай Глазков – Почему я отказался от самолёта
- Or from that Sea of Time. by Walt Whitman
- Спиридон Дрожжин – Первая борозда
- Who is at my door? by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
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
- Colonus’ Praise by William Butler Yeats
- Colonel Martin by William Butler Yeats
- Closing by William Butler Yeats
- Church And State by William Butler Yeats
- Chosen by William Butler Yeats
- Man And The Echo by William Butler Yeats
- Mad As The Mist And Snow by William Butler Yeats
- Lullaby by William Butler Yeats
- Long-Legged Fly by William Butler Yeats
- Lines Written In Dejection by William Butler Yeats
- Leda And The Swan by William Butler Yeats
- Lapis Lazuli by William Butler Yeats
- King And No King by William Butler Yeats
- John Kinsella’s Lament For Mrs. Mary Moore by William Butler Yeats
- Into The Twilight by William Butler Yeats
- In The Seven Woods by William Butler Yeats
- In Tara’s Halls by William Butler Yeats
- In Memory Of Major Robert Gregory by William Butler Yeats
- In Memory Of Eva Gore-Booth And Con Markiewicz by William Butler Yeats
- In Memory Of Alfred Pollexfen by William Butler Yeats
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
