The Time Around Scars
by Michael Ondaatje
A girl whom I’ve not spoken to
or shared coffee with for several years
writes of an old scar.
On her wrist it sleeps, smooth and white,
the size of a leech.
I gave it to her
brandishing a new Italian penknife.
Look, I said turning,
and blood spat onto her shirt.
My wife has scars like spread raindrops
on knees and ankles,
she talks of broken greenhouse panes
and yet, apart from imagining red feet,
(a nymph out of Chagall)
I bring little to that scene.
We remember the time around scars,
they freeze irrelevant emotions
and divide us from present friends.
I remember this girl’s face,
the widening rise of surprise.
And would she
moving with lover or husband
conceal or flaunt it,
or keep it at her wrist
a mysterious watch.
And this scar I then remember
is a medallion of no emotion.
I would meet you now
and I would wish this scar
to have been given with
all the love
that never occurred between us.
End of the poem
15 random poems
- Lover’s Gifts XLII: Are You a Mere Picture by Rabindranath Tagore
- A Banquet Song
- Was Then by AC Zenner
- The Nearness That Is All by Samuel Hazo
- Sonnet To Homer poem – John Keats poems
- The Beam In Grenley Church by William Barnes
- Вера Звягинцева – Шафрановым загаром
- Валерий Брюсов – К.Д. Бальмонту (Вечно вольный, вечно юный)
- The Leädy’s Tower by William Barnes
- Sonnet 12
- Sword Blades and Poppy Seed poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Омар Хайям – Что я дружу с вином, не отрицаю, нет
- All Saints Day 1867
- The Pond poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Not A Star
Some external links:
Duckduckgo.com – the alternative in the US
Quant.com – a search engine from France, and also an alternative, at least for Europe
Yandex – the Russian search engine (it’s probably the best search engine for image searches).
Michael Ondaatje (b. 1943) is a renowned Canadian author and poet. He is best known for his novel “The English Patient,” which won the Booker Prize and was later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film. Ondaatje’s works often explore themes of identity, memory, and the impact of war. He has received numerous accolades for his contributions to literature and is considered a significant figure in contemporary Canadian literature.