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:
- The Poisoned Present
- Владимир Маяковский – Заносы не дают железным дорогам жить… (РОСТА №838)
- Book Review – The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
- Couplets on Wit poem – Alexander Pope poems | Poetry Monster
- An Epitaph 2 (From The Greek) by William Cowper
- Robert Burns: Here’s His Health In Water :
- Николай Гумилев – За стенами старого аббатства
- “To fix her!-’twere a task as vain” by Tobias Smollett
- Robert Burns: Remorseful Apology:
- Владимир Маяковский – Рабочий при капитализме работал из-под палки… (РОСТА №666)
- Алексей Толстой – Растянулся на просторе
- I was born with a cry by Nur Al-Alam
- The Fair Singer poem – Andrew Marvell poems
- Владимир Костров – Отшумели сады, отзвенела вода
- Владимир Костров – Вот женщина с седыми волосами
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
- Ballade Made In The Hot Weather by William Ernest Henley
- Back-View by William Ernest Henley
- Attadale, West Highlands by William Ernest Henley
- Arabian Night’s Entertainments by William Ernest Henley
- Apparition by William Ernest Henley
- Anterotics by William Ernest Henley
- Andante Con Moto by William Ernest Henley
- Allegro Maestoso by William Ernest Henley
- After by William Ernest Henley
- A Wink From Hesper by William Ernest Henley
- A Desolate Shore by William Ernest Henley
- A Child by William Ernest Henley
- A Bowl Of Roses by William Ernest Henley
- The Swamp Fox by William Gilmore Simms
- The Lost Pleiad by William Gilmore Simms
- The Decay Of A People by William Gilmore Simms
- The Bard by William Gilmore Simms
- The Angel Of The Church by William Gilmore Simms
- Sumter In Ruins by William Gilmore Simms
- Song In March by William Gilmore Simms
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
