Song without words

 

 

Susan Macdowell Eakins "Portrait of Mary
& Elizabeth Macdowell" (detail) 1879

Song without words

We sit together

side by side

while evening thickens

around us

Let the toil

of the day
flow out of us
with gladness

And the edges

of what we believe

to be

soften and drift

All this you know

Without I speak

We sit together

side by side

I gaze at

your industry

You, the indigo

that bleeds the dark

The hush

that summons sleep

The yolk opening

in the silver cup of night

The carded nap

before the fulling

All this you know

Without I speak

 

a split of glow

Melfi wanted Tony to avenge her after the rape

She knew that he was her only hope--

(But then she knew that early in the game)

When her kit was “misplaced”

And the brute was released

She realized that polite

Was a checked cage

And professional code

would not contain her rage

I tell you now

I wanted him to hold me

 after the blow

He touched my arm meek

And warned me the neighbor was about

(But then I knew this early in the game)

Cold comfort

Cold comfort

Cold comfort

I write this

3 times in the dark

From where I sit,

I can see mothy leaves

And a split

Of glow.

Cold comfort
cold comfort.