After the Season

Do not talk to me just now; let me be.

We were up to our ears in pain and loss, and so

I am reuniting all the lovers, fishing the drowned from the sea.

I am removing daggers from breasts and re-

zipping.  Making it clear who loves whom—please go.

Do not talk to me just now; let me be.

I am redistributing flowers and potions and flutes, changing key;

rewriting letters, pulling spring out of the snow.

I am reuniting all the lovers, fishing the drowned from the sea.

I am making madness sane, setting prisoners free,

cooling the consumptive cheek, the fevered glow.

Do not talk to me just now; let me be.

Pinkerton and Butterfly make such a happy

couple; Violetta has five gardens now to show ...

I am reuniting all the lovers, fishing the drowned from the sea.

The jester and his daughter have moved to a distant city.

Lucia colors her hair now, did you know?

Come, let us talk, sit together and be

lovers reunited, fished like the drowned from the sea.

Kate Light

From The Laws of Falling Bodies, Story Line Press, © 1997,
co-winner of the 1997 Nicholas Roerich Prize.  Reprinted by
permission of the author.