Without even knowing it, I have
believed in you for a long time.
When I looked at my blood under a microscope
I could see truth multiplying over and over.
—Not police sirens, nor history books, not stage-three lymphoma
persuaded me
but your honeycombs and beetles; the dry blond fascicles of grass
thrust up above the January snow.
Your postcards of Picasso and Matisse,
from the museum series on European masters.
When my friend died on the way to the hospital
it was not his death that so amazed me
but that the driver of the cab
did not insist upon the fare.
Quotation marks: what should we put inside them?
Shall I say “I” “have been hurt” “by” “you,” you neglectful monster?
I speak now because experience has shown me
that my mind will never be clear for long.
I am more thick-skinned and male, more selfish, jealous, and afraid
than ever in my life.
“For my heart is tangled in thy nets;
my soul enmeshed in cataracts of time…”
The breeze so cool today, the sky smeared with bluish grays and whites.
The parade for the slain police officer
goes past the bakery
and the smell of fresh bread
makes the mourners salivate against their will.
—————
The End
And that’s the End of the Poem
© Poetry Monster, 2021.
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Poetry Monster — the multilingual library of poetic works. Here you’ll find original poems, poetry translations, ancient verses, ballads and even folk tales.
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Some external links: The Bat’s Poetry Cave. — Fledermaus’s poetry site. Talking Writing Monster. — the irreverent and irrelevant chatter on subjects both serious and not quite. A free for all board. You can scribble anything on it without registration (but it doesn’t let spammers in). You can even post your poems. Qwant.com. — a search engine from France. It’s an alternative because there are a few alternatives, like Bing, Duckduckgo, and Ecosia. And there is Yandex, the ultimate language-oriented search engine for the Russophone world. Commercial Links: Russian Commerce – the foreign trade assistance agency Other links: Poems and poetry in Russian (if you are reading this in English, as you obviously are, then you’d have to switch the language, the language switch is on the menu. More on languages)
