ARLETTE GEORGE

My Sister

I waited for this rain to fall,
And as it fell I waited again.
Heaven kept turning,
And the Milky Way, shining through the trees,
threw a star and a magnet straight at me.
I waited.
It landed.
And I fell upon my back laughing.
I had looked at myself reaching up to the stars,
And found the universe falling into my lap.

One Day

A woman eats sushi one day,
With a man, she hardly knows.
She's seen him before, in a dream long ago.
He points to an invisible knot in her heart,
Calls it guilt — knotted caring.
They walk up a steep hill,
She sneezes,
He buys a tub of chocolate ice-cream.
He eats the whole lot
And goes home.
A woman is eating sushi with a man she knows,
She's seen him before but not sure where.
He sees her heart tied in an invisible knot,
The birds keep singing till dawn.
He walks into a tunnel,
She sinks into a dive reflex.
He buys a fine suit, puts it on
And goes home.
He tells her a story about herself —
She begins to float,
Not like an eagle swooping down on prey,
But like the silk that breathes over books and tables,
resting, motionless, touched but unchanged.
That is the air, the soul moving
And I am she.

Radical River

This is not a war —
It’s a river.
And it’s flowing
through this house,
Moisture seeping
Into these walls —
We’ll either survive it,
Or find a secret passage
Where we’ll swim away
And set up camp
On higher ground.

It is a dangerous adventure —
Telling the truth,
Far harder than a war.

Far harder than striving,
Living well,
Riding out
angry weather.

So sit still,
Stay alert.
When you find the river
bare your feet,
walk its banks,

Submerge yourself.

Arlette George