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:
- As In Their Flight The Birds Of Song by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Sonnet 102: My love is strengthened, though more weak in seeming by William Shakespeare
- Aspirations Of The Soul After God by William Cowper
- Sonnet poem – Amy Levy poems | Poems and Poetry
- Black Rook In Rainy Weather by Sylvia Plath
- Sonnet VIII. To My Brothers poem – John Keats poems
- Robert Burns: Lines To A Gentleman,: Who had sent the Poet a Newspaper, and offered to continue it free of Expense.
- Full of Life, Now. by Walt Whitman
- Robert Burns: On An Innkeeper Nicknamed “The Marquis”:
- Love Sonnet XXIX poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems
- Love Sonnet XVII poem – Zora Bernice May Cross poems
- Dust by Rupert Brooke
- Владимир Маяковский – Стабилизация быта
- Jubal and Tubal Cain by Rudyard Kipling
- I Want It Now by Roald Dahl
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
- The Stwonèn Pworch by William Barnes
- The Stage Coach by William Barnes
- The Sparrow Club by William Barnes
- The Slantèn Light O’ Fall by William Barnes
- The Sky A-Clearen by William Barnes
- The Shy Man by William Barnes
- The Shepherd O’ The Farm by William Barnes
- The Settle An’ The Girt Wood Vire by William Barnes
- The Scud by William Barnes
- The Rwose In The Dark by William Barnes
- The Railroad by William Barnes
- The Poplars by William Barnes
- The Pleäce Our Own Ageän by William Barnes
- The Pleäce A Teäle’s A-Twold O’ by William Barnes
- The Pillar’d Geäte by William Barnes
- The Peasant’s Return by William Barnes
- The New House A-Gettèn’ Wold by William Barnes
- The Neäme Letters by William Barnes
- The Music O’ The Dead by William Barnes
- The Motherless Child by William Barnes
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
