Christine McNeill
The Outsider
We climbed into his minibus.
Forked lightning. Past midnight.
His hummed tune
turned more intricate
with each sharp bend.
Cradled by his wordless song
we shut our eyes:
he could have been playing a flute,
or conducting soft strings,
charting a musical route
compliant with the sum of roads.
Like a swallow darting in and out
of anarchic rain
he knew the way.
When we arrived
he handed us our suitcases,
said he’d been composing
a map of Croatia.
On Easter Sunday we saw him across
a fence
watching a party behind the church
sing to the risen Lord.
Holding a Christless cross
he touched the central point
as if wanting to press a button
for his own jollity to come forth,
stood motionless
on the lit score of the land.
Forked lightning. Past midnight.
His hummed tune
turned more intricate
with each sharp bend.
Cradled by his wordless song
we shut our eyes:
he could have been playing a flute,
or conducting soft strings,
charting a musical route
compliant with the sum of roads.
Like a swallow darting in and out
of anarchic rain
he knew the way.
When we arrived
he handed us our suitcases,
said he’d been composing
a map of Croatia.
On Easter Sunday we saw him across
a fence
watching a party behind the church
sing to the risen Lord.
Holding a Christless cross
he touched the central point
as if wanting to press a button
for his own jollity to come forth,
stood motionless
on the lit score of the land.
Page(s) 51
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