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:
- November by Thomas Hood
- The Dunciad: Book IV poem – Alexander Pope
- A Literature Lesson. Sir Patrick Spens in the Eighteenth Century Manner by Sir Walter Raleigh
- Аля Кудряшева – Ходят катера по Малой Невке
- Robert Burns: O May, Thy Morn:
- A man feared that he might find an assassin by Stephen Crane
- Владимир Высоцкий – Песня о вещем Олеге
- The River by Mark Olynyk
- The Danish Boy by William Wordsworth
- A Christmas Ghost Story by Thomas Hardy
- Василий Жуковский – Мщение
- The Ad-Dressing Of Cats by T. S. Eliot
- The Shield of Achilles by W. H. Auden
- Epitaph on William Hood, Senior by Robert Burns
- Джон Донн – Лекция о тени
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
- On Your Midnight Pallet Lying poem – A. E. Housman
- On Your Midnight Pallet Lying poem – A. E. Housman
- On Wenlock Edge The Wood’s In Trouble poem – A. E. Housman
- On Wenlock Edge The Wood’s In Trouble poem – A. E. Housman
- On the Idle Hill of Summer poem – A. E. Housman
- On Moonlit Heath and Lonesome Bank poem – A. E. Housman
- On Moonlit Heath and Lonesome Bank poem – A. E. Housman
- Oh Who Is That Young Sinner poem – A. E. Housman
- Oh, when I was in love with you poem – A. E. Housman
- Oh Stay At Home, My Lad poem – A. E. Housman
- Oh Stay At Home, My Lad poem – A. E. Housman
- Oh, see how thick the goldcup flowers poem – A. E. Housman
- Oh, see how thick the goldcup flowers poem – A. E. Housman
- Oh fair enough are sky and plain poem – A. E. Housman
- Oh fair enough are sky and plain poem – A. E. Housman
- O Why Do You Walk poem – A. E. Housman
- Now Hollow Fires Burn Out to Black poem – Alfred Edward Housman
- Now Hollow Fires Burn Out to Black poem – Alfred Edward Housman
- March poem – A. E. Housman
- March poem – A. E. Housman
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
