Читать книгу Otherworld, Underworld, Prayer Porch - David Bottoms - Страница 8

An Absence

Near the end, only one thing matters.

Yes, it has something to do with the moon and the way

the moon balances so nervously

on the ridge of the barn. This is the landscape of my childhood —

my grandfather’s country store, his barn, his pasture.

His chicken houses are already falling, but near the end

only the one thing matters.

It has to do with the prudence of his woods,

the way the trembling needles prove the wind.

Let’s sit here by the fence

and watch for the fox that comes each night to the pasture.

Imagine how the moon cools the water in the cow pond.

Yes, things happen in the cool white spaces,

those moments you turn your head —

the way the trembling branch suggests the owl,

or the print by the pond suggests the fox.

Near the end, though, only one thing matters,

and nothing, not even the fox, moves as quietly.