Uneasy Sleep

By YVETTE CHRISTIANSE

Who was it that cried out? This cry,

a call that opens night

breaks out like a bird

breaking to greet dawn, or

the arrival of a high tide

that brings schools of fish

whose scales make the waters

glint and shimmer, glint and shimmer.

 

Who cried? Who woke us

to such things on such a dark night?

Do not ask. No, do not ask.

The moon will make a basin

for tears and where your heart beats

a well will dry up and the weight

of ships leaning against the wind

will make you think of a woman

hanging in the hammock

of an early death.

 

 

Yvette Christiansë is a South African-born poet, novelist, and scholar.

Photo by Lainii from Flickr Creative Commons.

Uneasy Sleep

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