LAMENT

                                                                   In memory of Renata Horowitz
My darling’s photographs
were reflections of her inner eye.
I look at them, and I see what she saw:
a fly on a window, a corner of a frame,
two riders on horseback,
a bunch of ripe blackberries.

What did she see just before
she lost control of the car?
It was twilight, when apparitions appear.
Her friend who survived
said she was pointing at something.
Then memory stops.

What’s essential is invisible
to the eye. But what shall I do
now there’s nothing solid
left for me to hold onto?

When one thing shifts, all else moves
like clear water when you step into it.
Now everything goes against the current.

In the crosswinds, I hear her saying,
When you get lost, you have a chance
to find out who you are.

Photo Credit: Cameron † Evans Flickr via Compfight cc

Anne Whitehouse

Anne Whitehouse is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Meteor Shower (Dos Madres Press, 2016). She has also written a novel, Fall Love, which is now available in Spanish translation as Amigos y amantes by Compton Press. Recent honors include: 2018 Prize Americana for Prose, 2017 Adelaide Literary Award in Fiction, 2016 Songs of Eretz Poetry Prize, 2016 Common Good Books’ Poems of Gratitude Contest, 2016 RhymeOn! Poetry Prize, 2016 F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum Poetry Prize. She lives in New York City. www.annewhitehouse.com

Written by 

Anne Whitehouse is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Meteor Shower (Dos Madres Press, 2016). She has also written a novel, Fall Love, which is now available in Spanish translation as Amigos y amantes by Compton Press. Recent honors include: 2018 Prize Americana for Prose, 2017 Adelaide Literary Award in Fiction, 2016 Songs of Eretz Poetry Prize, 2016 Common Good Books’ Poems of Gratitude Contest, 2016 RhymeOn! Poetry Prize, 2016 F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum Poetry Prize. She lives in New York City. www.annewhitehouse.com

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