In the Quiet After Slaughter

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excerpt

Dennis was a top student, the school rep at the Science Fair.
Afternoons he skinned cats.
– Whatcha watching?
– Show about bugs, replied young Ronnie. Fucking stupid.
Dennis whispered, Got any smoke?
Mrs. Stinson appeared, a towel around her head. Beads of hair
colouring sluiced across her forehead.
– Burt still not going to Aunt Peggy’s? she asked.
The only way the Stinsons could have known about Burt’s recalcitrance
was if someone had told them. Someone like Mom.
Times like that I’d get these pictures in my head. I could see Al
Stinson disguising his voice and mumbling threats into a telephone,
the three conspirators having a good laugh afterwards. My brother
knew about my visions. He figured I had psychic powers.
Aunt Peggy was waiting for us at the bus station. With her was Bud,
the latest boyfriend, and Mark, our cousin.
Bud walked bull-legged and sucked on a toothpick. Mark was an
awkward 12-year-old with eyes the colour of blue marbles. Aunt
Peggy said he wore his cub uniform everywhere.
– Are you a Sixer yet? asked Burt. Before developing other interests,
my brother had been a pack leader himself.
– I need one more badge, Mark said. Knots.
The five of us squeezed into the cab of Bud’s pickup. Mark and his
dripping Popsicle sat on my lap.
Bud said, Don’t blink, fellas, you’ll miss the highlights.
The town of Coppermine was divided by the Similkameen River,
a marauding deluge of glacier-cold aqua roaring through a steep
gorge. Mountains loomed on all sides, leaving the few thousand residents
in shade for all but a couple of hours a day. The mountains
also blocked TV reception.
A bridge joined the wealthier west side of town with the poorer
east. The narrow wooden span was a popular meeting spot for teens.
A resentful congregation dissolved at our crossing.
– That road there, said Aunt Peggy, indicating a gap in the trees,
leads to the Cherry Creek Indian Reserve. They say all this land
belongs to them.

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562874

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0980897971

Yannis Ritsos – Poems, Volume VI

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With no Seat
Behind the locked fences, the tumbled houses
sit serenely. Nothing is left but the marks of
the two stove exhaust pipes. The wild babies
of the blind man’s buff perch there when
the others, down at the soccer field, argue for
no reason, and the others untangle the kites
from the tree branches.

https://draft2digital.com/book/4278093#print

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763785

Red in Black

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At the Metro II
Your wandering eyes
met mine and
with a slight movement
you guided my glance
to the couple, who were kissing
three rows in front of us
I squeezed your hand
love, baby
I whispered
and kissed your lips

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/1771713208

The Circle

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excerpt

He laughs and turns to look the other way. They are walking to her car, the
same old Chevy Impala; it must be at least twenty years old by now. He
remembers her having that car for a long time.
“You still drive this Impala? I’m amazed it’s still running; and, yes, to come
back to the subject of retirement, I’m thinking of retiring next year. And yes, I
can see myself without the service.”
“What are you going to do? Most people, after so many years with an
organization, go downhill as soon as they retire, because they don’t know what to
do with themselves. What are you going to do, Bevan?”
“I haven’t thought about that yet, Evelyn. Perhaps I’ll come this way and
retire with you in your hermitage and be as isolated as you for the rest of my life.”
He makes fun of her.
She starts the car and drives out of the parking lot; it’s a busy evening as most
people have finished their work week and are headed home for the weekend.
“You would be welcome to come and stay with us for as long as you like; but I
know you, you like to be with lots of people. You could never live isolated in a
hermitage, as you call it.”
He turns to her.
“Sometimes, one can feel isolated even among people, my dear Evelyn,
particularly in the midst of lots of people, trust me.”
Evelyn doesn’t respond as she concentrates on driving the busy streets of San
Francisco. It takes forty minutes to get to her house, and they find William half
asleep in his chair, watching TV.
Evelyn shouts at him, “William, for God’s sake, you’re asleep, at six in the
evening.”
William gets up and shakes Bevan’s hand.
“Hello, Bevan, what brings you this way?”
“Hello, William.”

Talal and Hakim take the bags and go inside. The house smells stuffy from being
closed up for so many days. The flowers in the pots are dry and Emily takes the
watering can to freshen them up as she talks to Jennifer about her trip. It is, of
course, hard for anyone to understand by just listening.
“You’d have to go there to understand what it’s like, sweetheart; it’s difficult
to grasp the way they live, which is so different from the way we do things here.
Life goes on for them as it does for us. They’re people with dreams and…

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562817

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0978186524

Tasos Livaditis – Poems, Volume II

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Self-Betrayal
He was naked. ey stoned him in the city.
And he le with blood dripping behind him.
“He wants to look defenseless” wise men said.
But when we found him dead, further out
in the fields, we saw on his naked breast the large
painted bird eating his last garment.

https://draft2digital.com/book/4051627

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763564

Nikos Engonopoulos – Poems

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…the beads are chairs of cafes
that forbid
the passionate
discussions
about politics
and playing backgammon
and when the heavy burdens
arrive
then the tassels take charge
the worries scatter
away from us
as if by a miracle
the clouds vanish
the sun shines again
the tears dry up
the sirens stop
and free again
we toss around
in the tugboats
and crafts
of lust
bells chime
in the neighbourhoods of the city
in the side streets of Truba
the guitars
create havoc
as they narrate…

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763734

In Turbulent Times

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excerpt

Caitlin was clutching at straws and she knew it. In her heart of hearts she knew that ten-weeks-old Rowan Hanlon had been left to their care. This conclusion was reinforced within a couple of hours when Michael returned from his walk to the telephone kiosk.
‘The Hanlons’ telephone has been disconnected,’ he announced. ‘It seems that they’ve gone.’
‘And left us with their baby,’ Caitlin added. ‘What are we going to do, Michael?’
‘What can we do? We either adopt and keep him, or put him up for someone else to adopt.’ Michael was feeling nervous and guilty. ‘We always wanted a boy. Maybe we should keep him.’
Caitlin looked at the sleeping baby, and her heart warmed to him in a way it never did to her daughter Nora. ‘I’m fifty-four, Michael. Do I want to start rearing a baby again at my age?’
‘I don’t know, Caitlin. That’s for you to decide.’
A week later Michael came in from the fields for his dinner. The baby was asleep in a large basket in front of the kitchen range, and Caitlin sat in the armchair beside it. Michael crossed the room and kissed her on the cheek.
‘What have you got there?’ he asked. ‘A letter?’
‘This came this morning. It’s addressed to you.’ Caitlin opened all the post that came to the house, no matter to which one of them it was addressed. ‘The envelope is postmarked Baile Átha Cliath, and my first thought was that Flynn Casey had gone back to Dublin. But it’s not a letter; it’s Rowan’s birth certificate.’
‘From Robert and Connie.’
‘But there’s no letter. Just the birth certificate.’ Caitlin looked up at Michael who was standing before her. ‘Michael, you are named as this baby’s father. Look.’ She handed the certificate to her husband. ‘At first I thought, No this can’t be true. Then I remembered that week last May when Connie stayed at the cottage on her own. You were having sex with her then, weren’t you?’
Michael shuffled uneasily, staring at his own name as the father of Rowan Michael.
‘May to February is nine months, Michael.’ Caitlin’s voice was calm and controlled. ‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’
Michael at last looked at Caitlin. ‘I’m sorry, Caitlin. I’m truly sorry. But ….’
‘But you just couldn’t resist her. Isn’t that it? You just couldn’t resist her.’

https://draft2digital.com/book/3562904

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763270

Straits and Turns

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excerpt

The Wolf
George left Vratsa behind him, and after he walked for three hours, he came close to the Balkan Mountain range. He kept on going, knowing that with every step he took, he was coming closer to his destination. This was a thought that truly calmed him, and without any unexpected incident, his day passed as he covered the distance, he believed he had to cover every day. He followed Highway 15, which the next evening would bring him around the next big city of Botevgrad, 55 south of Vratsa. But for now, he was walking uphill and soon had to go off the road to find a place to spend the night.
Upon leaving the road, he climbed 100 meters, thinking it would take him another full day of walking to pass the mountains. He also knew that once he passed them, he would follow the valley southward until he came to the Struma River, called the Strimonas River in Hellas. The Struma River would be his landmark.
He noticed the trees around him weren’t too high nor too dense. He stopped at a little plateau and gazed around the surrounding area. The open area provided him with a good view of everything.
He walked further and found a spot between two trees and a big boulder on the far side. That spot welcomed him as his place for the night. He put his backpack against the boulder and gathered a bunch of leaves from a tree, which he used to make a makeshift bed onto which he laid his sleeping bag. He gathered a few pieces of wood and created a circle of a fire pit with a few rocks. He arranged the firewood and lit it with the help of some toilet paper. In a minute, his fire was ablaze.

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/1926763866

Water in the Wilderness

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excerpt

Tyne gave him a brief smile. “Thank you, Mr. Tournquist. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
He waved away her thanks. “One other thing – I’m going to Medicine Hat tomorrow morning to look around, especially in the area where you say Morley was heading when he left home. You’ll have to give me the details.”
Tyne sat up straight in her chair. “I’ll do better than that – I’ll go with you.”
He chuckled. “Why am I not surprised? But are you sure? What about the children you’re looking after?”
“I’ll check with Aunt Millie but I know she’ll be happy to stay with them. I’ll be ready in the morning whenever you want to leave.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “That’s my Miss Milligan,” he said with emphasis on the ‘Miss’.
Tyne laughed as they got up from the table. He had not forgotten that the first time they met, on the private ward of the Holy Cross, she had forbidden him to call her by her first name.

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/192676319X

George Seferis – Collected Poems

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Spring A.D.
Again with spring
she was dressed in light colors
and with a light steps
again with spring
again in the summer
she was smiling.
Amid the fresh blossoms
breast naked to the veins
beyond the dry night
beyond gray haired old men
who spoke in low voices
what would have been better
to give up the keys
or to pull the rope
and hang from the noose
to leave empty bodies
there where the souls couldn’t endure
there where the mind couldn’t reach
and the knees buckled.
With the new blossoms
the old men missed
and they gave up everything
grand children and great-grand children
and the vast fields
and the green mountains
and love and life
compassion and dwelling
and rivers and the sea;
and they left like statues
and left behind silence
that the sword couldn’t cut
that gallop couldn’t take
nor voices of the young;
and the great loneliness came
and the great austerity…

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096TTS37J