Thursday 11 April 2013

One of my MA poems

the visit

brother mike phoned
‘you’d better take a plane
ma hasn’t long’
we did the four-hour drive
in his car
edging towards each other

ma slowly opens her eyes
‘oh john’ she says
(for the first time since childhood
i am not just ‘dear’)
as if i had been out of the room
a couple of minutes only
‘i’ve had this dream
i was in holland and
the canals were frozen over and
people were skating’

she leans towards the side of the bed
where i am sitting
her loose hospital shift
exposing one perfect brown nipple
the one time
i have seen it since
the unfocused gaze
of my first days
‘it was such a lovely dream’

sudden intimacy
who is this person?
i wonder


besøget

bror mike ringede
‘bedst du tager et fly
ma har kun kort tid tilbage’
vi kørte de fire timer
i hans bil
kantede os ind mod hinanden

ma åbner langsomt øjnene
‘du john’ siger hun
(for første gang siden barndommen
hedder jeg ikke bare ‘skat’)
som om jeg kun havde været
udenfor værelset et par minutter
‘jeg har haft denne drøm
jeg var i holland og
kanalerne var tilfrossede og
folk skøjtede’

hun bøjer sig frem mod den side af sengen
hvor jeg sidder
hendes løstsiddende sygehustøj
blotter én perfekt brun brystvorte
første og sidste gang
jeg har set den siden
det ufokuserede blik
af mine allerførste dage
‘det var sådan en dejlig drøm’

pludselig intimitet
hvem er denne person?
undrer jeg

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