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:
- Girl Child – An Alternate Reality by Rekha Seshadri
- A Short View Of: The State Of Man by William Alexander
- Forfeiture
- Craigieburn Wood by Robert Burns
- Mora Jobana (My Youth) poem – Amir Khusro poems | Poems and Poetry
- Федор Сологуб – Вы не умеете целовать мою землю
- Илья Зданевич – Галоша
- Иида Дакоцу – Сложено на вечере поэзии хайку в храме Номандзи
- Eternal Existence by Mark Miller
- To a Discarded Toast by William Somervile
- Алексей Плещеев – Цветок
- Владимир Британишский – В пыльном, душном, купеческом
- A Do’set Sale by William Barnes
- I looked here by Stephen Crane
- Михаил Лермонтов – В рядах стояли безмолвной толпой
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
- Михаил Ломоносов – Надпись 3 к статуе Петра Великого
- Михаил Ломоносов – Надпись 1 к статуе Петра Великого
- Михаил Ломоносов – На сочетание стихов Российских
- Михаил Ломоносов – На Сарское село августа 24 дня 1764 года
- Михаил Ломоносов – На Фридриха II, короля Прусского (Сочинение господина Вольтера, переведенное господином Ломоносовым)
- Михаил Ломоносов – Молчите, струйки чисты
- Михаил Ломоносов – Лишь только дневной шум замолк
- Михаил Ломоносов – День коронования Великия государыни императрицы Елисаветы Петровны
- Михаил Ломоносов – Чем ты дале прочь отходишь
- Михаил Ломоносов – Богиня, дщерь божеств, науки основавших
- Михаил Лермонтов – Звуки и взор
- Михаил Лермонтов – Зови надежду сновиденьем
- Михаил Лермонтов – Жена севера
- Михаил Лермонтов – Желанье
- Михаил Лермонтов – Земля и небо
- Михаил Лермонтов – Завещание
- Михаил Лермонтов – Забудь опять свои надежды
- Михаил Лермонтов – Юнкерская молитва
- Михаил Лермонтов – Я видел тень блаженства
- Михаил Лермонтов – Я счастлив, тайный яд течёт в моей крови
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
