|
LETTER TO
NANA
(from a picture)
by Val Magnuson
Here we are in a photograph
And I am
eight-
I am your little, brown Valentine girl
with a doll and a heart
cake
Two that year because
I took my final vows of Holy
Sisterhood
I asked your girl to send her back-
Then, I knew she
should
But I have other loving sisters, Nana
And my Love, the
Wind
Has led me into me
A journey in an overturned boat
Rowed against a
stoney sea
Trixie B-
I took your girl back to
The place you spoke
of-
England, Forestgate
We stood before your house
On Shrewsbury
Lane
You delivered your laundry
And then, the cane-
I liked it so,
England-
I could have stayed
It was so bloody normal
It was so bloody
gay
I live my life
Just beneath my tongue
My mouth speaking to my
mouth
And keep my precious, precious souvenirs of you
Darling memories
each one
That is why I love my islands so-
You were my island
And
we were forever dancing off to one
Bob-Lo, gone
Fallen into the great
crevice
Death is in the eggs
But love is in the kiss
Oh, Trixie
B
Sometimes it seems I wake
Lying on a skinny bed
On a knotted
porch
And it is summer again
You've made pancakes for breakfast
Three
hours ago and the laundry turns
The Paso Doble just outside
somewhere
I am not sure what became of your tambourine
Gypsy girl,
Trixie B-
Still wandering in endless September
Your bureau is in a
room
That you would like
In July we cleaned it out
Did you find your
wings?
2001
About Val Magnuson
"Visit me at: http://valmagnuson.com and buy one
of my poetry books: Destiny, Five Gates, and In the Company of
Women".
|
