Swans

Mark Thalman

A swan slides across a reflection of sky.
On the opposite bank, a tall, dark-haired man in a tuxedo
escorts his bride, who also glides like a beautiful bird
in her long white gown. They are having their reception
in the Dampier Chateau. I remember taking this photo
while the critical care nurse informs me
that the small transparent hoses inserted in my neck
are called “swan tubes.” They loop through
the jugular and down to heart and lungs
forming the shape of swans
to measure function and pressure,
administer medicine.

A day later, the nurse tells me to sit up straight,
take a deep breath, hold it, and stay very still—
same as an x-ray. Standing slightly behind me,
he pulls in one long steady motion . . .
wings lifting through my veins.

© Apple Valley Review

Quotation from Francois Mauriac

"'Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are' is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread."

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Samson

Regina Spektor

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth
I have to go, I have to go
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
He ate a slice of wonder bread and went right back to bed
And history books forgot about us and the bible didn't mention us
And the bible didn't mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads
But they're just old light, they're just old light
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson came to my bed
Told me that my hair was red
Told me I was beautiful and came into my bed
Oh I cut his hair myself one night
A pair of dull scissors in the yellow light
And he told me that I'd done alright
And kissed me 'til the mornin' light, the mornin' light
And he kissed me 'til the mornin' light

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
Ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed
Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down
Yeah we couldn't destroy a single one
And history books forgot about us
And the bible didn't mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first

Missed Call

Dawn McSweeney


I believe it was you,



who called just now,
rang and rang my phone
but hung up on its answering machine
as I ran through the hall



naked,
my hair soaked, raining down,
my skin exploding in goosebumps;



ran to get to your voice
but, standing bare and alone,
all I got was a click of goodbye,



so I ask that the next time—



the next time I'm running through the hall



naked



soaked



exploding—



to get to some of your beautiful words,
please
do leave a message.

© Anderbo Journal

Bowl Of Oranges

Bright Eyes

The rain, it started tapping on the window near my bed. There was a loophole in my dreaming,
so I got out of it. And to my surprise my eyes were wide and already open.
Just my nightstand and my dresser where those nightmares had just been.
So I dressed myself and left then, out into the gray streets.
But everything seemed different and completely new to me.
The sky, the trees, houses, buildings, even my own body.
And each person I encountered, I couldn't wait to meet.
I came upon a doctor who appeared in quite poor health.
I said "{I am terribly sorry but} there is nothing I can do for you
{that} you can't do for yourself."
He said "Oh yes you can. Just hold my hand. I think that would help."
So I sat with him a while and then I asked him how he felt.
He said, "I think I'm cured. No, in fact, I'm sure.
Thank you Stranger, for your therapeutic smile."
So that is how I learned the lesson that everyone is alone.
And your eyes must do some raining if you are ever going to grow.
But when crying don't help and you can't compose yourself.
It is best to compose a poem, an honest verse of longing or simple song of hope.
That is why I'm singing...
Baby don't worry cause now I got your back. And every time you feel like crying,
I'm gonna try and make you laugh. And if I can't, if it just hurts too bad,
then we will wait for it to pass and I will keep you company
through those days so long and black.
And we'll keep working on the problem we know we'll never solve
Of Love's uneven remainders, our lives are fractions of a whole.
But if the world could remain within a frame like a painting on a wall.
Then I think we would see the beauty.
Then we would stand staring in awe at our still lives posed like a bowl of oranges,
like a story told by the fault lines and the soil.

Quotation from Oscar Wilde

"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months."

That's What I Say; It's Not What I Mean

Feist

Here I am, hopeful again
I can't say when
I wasn't this way

Don't need to worry about me
That's what I say
It's not what I mean
That's what I say
It's not what I mean

Here I am, swinging alone
A timeframe surrounds the pictures I hold
But they don't hold up well
Started to wonder if I fell in love with you at all
If I fell in love with you at all

And when will a time come
I could hear a sad love song, that doesn't speak to me
And when will a time come
I could sing a nice love song, using thou and me

Here I am, walking away
My head's held high
What's the use gettin' down
Because all that I wanted is here
I just kept the ground, close to my ears
I just kept the ground, close to my ears

And when will a time come
When will it come
Ooh

(Inner Tube)

Michael Ondaatje

On the warm July river
head back

upside down river
for a roof

slowly paddling
towards an estuary between trees

there's a dog
learning to swim near me
friends on shore

my head
dips
back to the eyebrow
I'm the prow
on an ancient vessel,
this afternoon
I'm going down to Peru
soul between my teeth

a blue heron
with its awkward
broken backed flap
upside down

one of us is wrong

he
his blue grey thud
thinking he knows
the blue way
out of here

or me