A poem by Yichaelle Devendra

Hi all, I'm posting a poem by Yichaelle Devendra, who used to be a lecturer in the Dept of English, and a student of English at Kelaniya. Ms Devendra now lives in Waterloo, Ontario, in Canada. This poem recently won an award at a poetry contest for the National Poetry Month 2010 by the Cambridge Libraries in Cambridge, Ontario.

The Phone Call

The past does find its way back through telephone wires,
across lands and sea into jet streams
When you hear a dog bark in between her sad tales
of solitary supper and arthritis,
spaced with pleas—"Come back"
The past springs surprisingly-Like the crow of a rooster
At high Noon—in another land where it is already tomorrow,
And here, I am still yesterday, getting ready for bed
Head full of winter planning in rumpled pyjamas
Was it real?
The old dog's bark, the sound of breakfast and the smell
of old laments
The bell at the gate.
"HANG ON" she says "THERE'S SOMEONE OUTSIDE"
Is she still waiting for his return? Or mine?
The dark truths, not dealt with, slither back as silently as a
viper in the fool moon
Its pouch full of venom startling the unsuspecting foot
The world we make is never memory proof,
Even the deleted parts
Like believing we are loved
Squeeze themselves through the wires
Disguised as long distance telephony
Just clotting memories of blood and tears and her solitary sadness,
As fragile as mist on a goose wing—as
Luminous as longing.