Nell Farrell
Stranded
It was the summer the whale beached.
None of my Paris hairpins could withstand
the gales and one by one I lost them
to that wild grey sea. You would think
it was another country. How I wish
I had never followed your kisses here.
The women dress like nuns on Sundays
and the men smell of rotting apples.
Four days the whale took to die
and no-one shivered at its cries but me.
They shrugged and buttoned up their cloaks
discussed who would take what
for fishing bait and candles,
what they could sell to the corsetières.
You shrugged along with them, excited,
let drop my hand in the coarse wool gloves
you gave me the day after our wedding.
In my dreams that year I was always back
in Madame Vallotton’s shop, boxes filled
with ribbons of every colour, velvet,
satin, silk. Umbrellas and parasols
some open, some closed, giving the small
dark room a cheerful smile, whatever the season.
You stand in the doorway, just as you did,
dark hair shining with rain, blue eyes
roaming the shelves with that bewildered grin
you have no use for now. And every time,
in the warm back room of the shop
I wind myself tighter and tighter
in folds of velvet unravelling from a bale
and do not step forward no matter
how many times you call my name.
Page(s) 55
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