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:
- The Ancient Deception by Rixa White
- A New Age by W H Auden
- Омар Хайям – Ну, допустим, что будет тебе и почет
- Prayer of Columbus. by Walt Whitman
- The Yeoman of Kent by William Somervile
- Epitaph On An Infant. by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Sleeping for Kafka by Nin Andrews
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Довольно
- Song—Awa’, Whigs, Awa’ by Robert Burns
- The Man In The Bowler Hat
- Ольга Седакова – Сновидец
- Sleep Spaces by Robert Desnos
- Алексей Жемчужников – Привет весны
- Benlomond by Thomas Campbell
- Crapulous Impression
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
- Imitation Of Spenser poem – John Keats poems
- Hyperion. Book III poem – John Keats poems
- Hyperion. Book II poem – John Keats poems
- Hyperion. Book I poem – John Keats poems
- Hyperion, A Vision: Attempted Reconstruction Of The Poem poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment. Where’s The Poet? poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment. Welcome Joy, And Welcome Sorrow poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment Of “The Castle Builder.” poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment Of An Ode To Maia. Written On May Day 1818 poem – John Keats poems
- Fragment: Modern Love poem – John Keats poems
- Faery Songs poem – John Keats poems
- Extracts From An Opera poem – John Keats poems
- Epistle To John Hamilton Reynolds poem – John Keats poems
- Endymion: Book I poem – John Keats poems
- Dedication To Leigh Hunt, Esq. poem – John Keats poems
- Dawlish Fair poem – John Keats poems
- Character Of Charles Brown poem – John Keats poems
- Calidore: A Fragment poem – John Keats poems
- Ben Nevis: A Dialogue poem – John Keats poems
- Asleep! O Sleep A Little While, White Pearl! poem – John Keats poems
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
