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Boots
—Skeleton in the closet |
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Ruth kept leather gear for body |
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parts in her closet she closed, |
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except when undressing for bed, |
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when dressing each morning. Door |
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ajar, on a high shelf, light fell on |
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brown boots standing side by side. |
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Her boots hurt my feet, she said. |
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Their laces, crossings, fine leather |
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boots, for walking mountain tops, |
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stood aloof. Waste not, want not... |
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Shaped by the other woman's |
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foot bones, those boots would cross |
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over into the pawn dealer's shop. |
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_____________________________ |
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Visit Back |
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The vow: Never return. |
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But roots draw her back to the iron |
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gates, to a Carob tree, to black pods, |
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St John's Bread, sweet food for the dead. |
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A red ant family walk over a plaque, |
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engraved with the name of mother, |
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of daughter. She lies on the grass |
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over the body, its shadow under |
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the earth. Below, above, the pelvic |
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circle carries the moon in their bones. |
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Grandparents, auntie, father throw |
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flowers, as they had thrown clay. |
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Born beneath the sign of Aries, |
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when winter merges with spring, |
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they say, you are the crocus, |
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springing up to die back. |
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The kindly sexton digs one |
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bone to sear with flame, brittle, |
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dazzling, resounding. A holy relic |
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she places in a box on the mantle |
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beside the Madonna at home. |
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_____________________________ |
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Short Talk On Balance
—Prose poem |
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The cord-pivot scale originated in ancient Egypt 5,000 BC. |
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A vertical support secured the centre of a horizontal beam. |
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At one end, a pan held an object to weigh; at the other, |
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a second pan held known weights to bring the ends in |
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balance. |
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On Wednesday afternoons, the vegetable man stopped at |
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Grandmother's back steps. In the breeze, sun flickered |
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through a canopy of eucalyptus leaves shining on her, |
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as she stood beside the truck bed to choose from rows |
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of bins: apples, bananas, oranges, lemons, cabbages, |
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carrots, onions, potatoes. At each end of the bar, a tray |
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gleamed silver; in one, small rounds of iron, weighing |
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ounces or pounds, balanced fruit or vegetables in the other. |
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When the bar tipped level, a clock hand pointed to weight, |
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not time; then pencil and paper figured the cost. |
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At the supermarket, a blue screen records: name of store, |
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address, phone number, product name, code, cost per unit, |
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quantity, cost plus GST, final cost. Behind these words, |
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these numbers, among the pyramids, Grandmother strides |
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with ease, as she carries the water jug. She watches, |
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as I settle the account I justly owe. For those who have not, |
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even what they have will be taken. |
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I thought my time had come, she tells me. But I'm at peace, |
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willing to go. How much I've loved you, my favourite. |
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Through her eyes, I see she knew beforehand the deficit |
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in my name, all that would happen, all I must pay. |
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Inexplicably, her presence price carries over, a credit, |
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my balance, as I stand in line. |
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luminance