Saturday, September 26, 2009

Joseph Brodsky

BELFAST TUNE
.
Here's a girl from a dangerous town
She crops her dark hair short
so that less of her has to frown
when someone gets hurt.
.
She folds her memories like a parachute.
Dropped, she collects the peat
and cooks her veggies at home they shoot
here where they eat.
.
Ah, there's more sky in these parts than, say,
ground. Hence her voice's pitch,
and her stare stains your retina like a gray
bulb when you switch
.
hemispheres, and her knee-length quilt
skirt's cut to catch the squall,
I dream of her either loved or killed
because the town's too small.

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