Dead Reckoning
Dead Reckoning
Original Text
Apostrophes II: Through You I. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1997: 33.
1Now that death has entered you, sooner than I think it will
2arrive in me, I fear to look into your eyes and see the sun
3growing dimmer there. The space around my hands, unable to
4contain the stars, begins to fail. Who would have thought that not the air
5alone but space itself would die, the planets disappearing and
6the seasons smaller? Between us on a table flowers floated in
7a bowl. Flowers, you said, are flowers forever, each coming back
8within the next. You gazed into the bowl and looked away, and when
9your eyes returned, I looked to see in each the image of a rose
10reflecting on mortality. There must be moments when we are
11uncertain where we are, the sun beyond our measure, being seen,
12after it is gone, mirage of roses passing through the sky.
Publication Start Year
1997
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2006
Rhyme
Form
Special Copyright
© 1997 <i>Apostrophes II: TYhrough You I</i> University of Alberta Press