Empty Now
by Melanie Cameron
Memory needs
XXyou or it
has nothing, is less
XXthan the black
XXbox of night, closed
XXindefinitely, less
XXXXXthan a never
XXXXX-stirred
XXXXXlake, no thing
XXXXXto press against
XXXXXXXXits cheek, less than rock
XXXXXXXXunturned, no one
XXXXXXXXto witness
XXXXXXXXits shadow beneath, or its pulse
XXXXXXXXwithin, absent or too
XXXXXXXXslow to be
XXXXXXXXtaken. And you
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXneed memory because you need
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXyourselves
XXXXXXXXto stay. That simple. You
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXdon't
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXwant
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXto be, can't
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXimagine being,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXalone
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXwith you.
Memory, a mirror, nothing
to draw in to
yourself, only a growing
circular
haze, steam, then
your warm
breath, evaporating,
from its cold, unyielding
face, you
leaning in, trying
to see who and what
you have been.
XYou leaning in, your surface, met
XXand stretched, across
XXthe skin
XXof a river. Drop
XXXXXa single wet
XXXXXstone through
XXXXXglass
XXXXXskin. Self
XXXXXXXXXXXsplinters,
XXXXXXXXXXXshatters. Selves
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXundu
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX-late memory’s
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXexpanding, receding,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXcircular
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXwake. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXThe shadow
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXof willows dropping
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXtheir shoulders, giving
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXup, above.
Beneath shadows
of branches, bending, unable
to scratch, you
XXrelease
XXeach
XXself who stands
XXreflected
XXwith you now, in
XXthis moment, you
XXstray
XXfrom your
XX-selves, as Persephone
XXXXstrayed from the girls
XXXXwhose hands she held, XXXXXXXlet go,
XXXXXXXamong
XXXXthe hands of trees.
Persephone, straying
from the girls in loose dresses in
the loosely dressed forest, its garments,
even in spring, fall
-ing around them, like memory
of sun, memory of
green, now
floating
down toward ground, now
trodden under
-foot.
Melanie Cameron’s first book, Holding the Dark (Muses’ Company, 1999), was shortlisted for the Eileen MacTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book by a Manitoba Writer. Her second book,
wake, will be released by the Muses’ Company in Fall 2003. Melanie is the poetry co-editor of
Prairie Fire magazine and is currently completing her third book-length manuscript.
Read
the TDR Interview with Melanie Cameron.
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