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:
- Robert Burns: One Night As I Did Wander:
- Robert Burns: Lines To An Old Sweetheart:
- Илья Эренбург – Я слышу всё, и горестные шепоты
- Happy Teacher’s Day by Vinaya Kumar Hanumanthappa
- Robert Burns: Pretty Peg:
- Исикава Такубоку – Дом
- Владимир Маяковский – Было с белым много дел… (Главполитпросвет №44)
- The Old Gumbie Cat by T. S. Eliot
- Barren Woman by Sylvia Plath
- Crapulous Impression
- Bredon Hill poem – A. E. Housman
- Владислав Ходасевич – Нет, не шотландской королевой
- To A Wife, On Mother’s Day by Ronald G. Auguste
- Владимир Корнилов – Соперник
- Михаил Лермонтов – Благодарность
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
- How To Raise Money For Your High School Study Abroad Experience
- Computer Cookies: Are They Good or Bad?
- The Best Blues Songs Ever
- The Effects of Chess on Leadership
- Holiday & Travel Guide For Paphos, Cyprus
- Will the SEZ Act Boost Exports?
- Art Therapy and Loss
- Fiction Tips – The Snare of Coincidence
- Interview With Joseph D’Agnese, Author Of Jersey Heat
- Top 5 Furniture Buying Tactics For the Best Purchase
- Chinese Zodiac Signs
- A Brief History of Special Education
- Priorities of Life and Death
- Goals – How to Get Everything You Want by Brian Tracy – Review
- How to Increase Your Faith
- Top Benefits of Wearing Peridot Birthstone
- How to Locate, Hire, and Work With an Article Writer
- Companies See Mobile Games Development As a Profitable Business Option
- Empowering Women in Gambia
- Is Hiring a Resume Writer Really Worth It?
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
