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:
- In Honour Of St. Alphonsus Rodriguez poem – Gerard Manley Hopkins poems
- Федор Сологуб – Ветер в трубе
- Crepuscule du Matin poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- The Window Overlooking The Harbour
- Dust by Rupert Brooke
- On Observing Some Names Of Little Note Recorded In The Biographia Britannica by William Cowper
- Константин Батюшков – Любовь в челноке
- Алексей Плещеев – Песня
- shivering wind by Steve Troyanovich
- Николай Языков – Е. Н. Мандрыкиной (В младой груди моей о вас воспоминанья)
- Evening in a Sugar Orchard by Robert Frost
- Am I the Assassin or the Undertaker by T. Wignesan
- On the Death of a Young Gentleman by Phillis Wheatley
- Алексей Толстой – Рука Алкида тяжела
- Choriambics — I by Rupert Brooke
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
- Низами Гянджеви – Искендер-наме – Страница 13 из 15
- Низами Гянджеви – Искендер-наме – Страница 11 из 15
- Низами Гянджеви – Готова молодость твоя откочевать
- Низами Гянджеви – Где путь в кумирню
- Низами Гянджеви – Газелеокая
- Низами Гянджеви – Если б радость не лучилась
- Низами Гянджеви – Другим знавала ты меня
- Низами Гянджеви – День мой благословен
- Низами Гянджеви – Будь весел — короток наш век
- Нинель Эпатова – Настя с мамою в лесочке
- Нина Воронель – Запахи детства еще не забыты
- Нина Воронель – Юбилей в доме литераторов
- Нина Воронель – Я не хочу опять вернуться в детство
- Нина Воронель – Харьков
- Нина Воронель – Высокосный год
- Нина Воронель – Вечная мерзлота
- Нина Воронель – В чаще
- Нина Воронель – Суета
- Нина Воронель – Суд современников не значит ни черта
- Нина Воронель – Снег
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
