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:
- Зинаида Александрова – Гибель Чапаева
- Yes Dear by Mary Etta Metcalf
- Love is a Tree by Rumi
- Hymn From A Watermelon Pavilion by Wallace Stevens
- I Dream I M The Death Of Orpheus
- Николай Заболоцкий – Пир в доме Бомбеева
- La Gitana poem – Aleister Crowley poems | Poetry Monster
- Юлий Даниэль – Часовой
- Epigram—Kirk and State Excisemen by Robert Burns
- Concert Party by Siegfried Sassoon
- Robert Burns: To Daunton Me:
- On The Luxembourg Gallery by Washington Allston
- All Things Can Tempt Me by William Butler Yeats
- The Grey Rock by William Butler Yeats
- Sun Light poem – Ammar Hussain poems | Poems and Poetry
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
- Hobbinol; or The Rural Games – Canto 2 by William Somervile
- Hare-hunting by William Somervile
- Fortune-Hunter, The – Canto 5 by William Somervile
- Fortune-Hunter, The – Canto 3 by William Somervile
- Fortune-Hunter, The – Canto 1 by William Somervile
- For the Lute by William Somervile
- First let the kennel be the huntsman’s care by William Somervile
- Field Sports by William Somervile
- Epistle from Mr. Somerville, An by William Somervile
- Chase, The – Book 1 by William Somervile
- All-Accomplished Rover by William Somervile
- Advice to the Ladies by William Somervile
- Address to His Elbow-Chair, New Cloath’d, An by William Somervile
- A Padlock for the Mouth by William Somervile
- “Young England–What Is Then Become Of Old” by William Wordsworth
- Yew-Trees by William Wordsworth
- “Yes! Thou Art Fair, Yet Be Not Moved” by William Wordsworth
- Yes, It Was The Mountain Echo by William Wordsworth
- Yarrow Visited by William Wordsworth
- Yarrow Unvisited by William Wordsworth
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
