poetry
Alice Jay
Scavengers
Near the Thames a glimpse –
a woman in magenta in a window.
Henry James stops
walking. My feet soak
in the white bowl. On my lap is
Maggie Verver, whispering
the same words
over and over. I listen
to another woman (less innocent)
on my left. Her toes are turning
vermilion. Her affair,
like my friend’s, is with a woman
wedded to her husband’s money.
When she leaves
I write it all down. Everything
in notebooks. Fat
with secrets. I never tell
a tale without a sin. A glance
on a bridge. A writer walks
slowly. Looking
at backs.
Back to Poetry
Copyright (c) 2007 Alehouse Press
Alehouse 2007
Cover
Contents
Contributors
Submissions
Order
Alehouse Press