Lesley Quayle
Sudden Floods
I.
We hadn’t seen you since the funeral a year ago.
Conversation prowled warily at first, memory
bared long teeth. You have survived,
though the last ordeal has left you stranded,
there are still ‘help me’ messages scratched
across your eyes. Joy has been stolen
and your longing is engraved on living bones.
You have become slight, your skin grown old.
II.
I have a photograph.
You as bride,
him, smiling groom,
the sky unfocussed.
I have forgotten the month,
but I think you were happy.
I think you were in love,
loved, simple and intense,
your glowing faces are pressed
close together, lips almost touching,
illuminated from within.
III.
Last September, under a weight of sky,
we gathered to bury him. Grey church,
speckled stone scribbled with lichen,
streets and houses ordinary,
the weather unremarkable for autumn,
your daughters’ faces washed by grief,
your brother’s arm tight round you.
Even now, you move between two places,
here and where he used to be.
You drift in and out of range
of our words, unmoored,
sometimes swept away
by sudden floods.
Page(s) 168-169
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