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:
- Николай Языков – А. Н. Очкину (Было время, мой приятель)
- A Passing Glimpse by Robert Frost
- The Epicure
- Moonrise by Sylvia Plath
- Владимир Бенедиктов – Комета
- A Performance At Hog Theater by Russell Edson
- Fidele by William Shakespeare
- Константин Бальмонт – Мудрецы говорят
- Robert Burns: Where Are The Joys I have Met?:
- Robert Burns: To Mr. M’Adam, Of Craigen-Gillan: In answer to an obliging Letter he sent in the commencement of my poetic career.
- a gentle day by Raj Arumugam
- Untitled #10 by Nijole Miliauskaite
- To A Wife, On Mother’s Day by Ronald G. Auguste
- Eclogue:–Two Farms In Woone by William Barnes
- The Importance of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
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
- English Poetry. Madison Julius Cawein. Evasion. Мэдисон Джулиус Кавейн.
- 10 Valentine’s Day Scrapbooking Ideas With or Without Photos
- The Poetical Works of Tiruloka Sitaram With Translation and Notes – Part II
- Learn Numbers With Fun Counting Rhymes For Kids
- African Artists’ Painting Inspiration
- Self-Care for Creative Artists: 10 Reasons To Care About It
- Creativity Tool – The Five Senses
- Love, Romance, Relationship: Some Poetic Scenes!
- Whisper of the Star
- Comments: How to Write a Critical Appreciation of a Poem
- One Great Christmas Verse, Three Incomparable Gifts
- Reviewing When We Were Slugs!
- Breathing Stars, Inspiration and the Labyrinth of Correspondence
- Grow Up: Time to Give Up Your YA Books
- Writing Science Poetry
- In These Present Times How Worried Should We Be?
- 5 Top Sources of Inspiration That Will Help You Become a Successful Entrepreneur
- How to Write Creative Non-fiction
- Creative Writing For Stress Relief
- Publishing Poetry – How To Locate The Best Markets Where You Can See Your Poems In Print
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
