Poem — Vincent O’Sullivan

In time of thanks and praise

 

My friend Judith’s house is so instructively wired
that when she lights her 19th century ornamental lamp
for one of her elegant, thoughtful dinners,
the flame hisses when a man says so much as 2 words.

When she speaks herself, however, or her friend
in a purple celebratory frock, the low murmur
of the lamp is the murmur of the secret stream
from Eve to this very table, the wise susurration
from servants’ quarters, from sabbath kitchens,
while the Counsellors of History lorded it in the State Rooms ….

My friend Judith has put a matchbox in my pocket,
she tells me I have lit the pyres from Troy
to Salem, I have helped corrupt the lungs of centuries
with the swirling scissors of my cigar smoke.

Yet wait! She has taken my hand too in surrogate
sisterhood, helps me accept it is not an evil thing
to be a man, per se. It is discourse rather than essence
makes me unattractive, there are the words to many songs
it is not too late for me to learn.

Repentance is a shrub that may grow to surprising heights,
in the Scheme of Things the instructed male
may come to play his part. My friend Judith
who was a heroine in the Bible, with an arm like a woman
cricketer throwing truth back from the boundary,
is willing, yes, to help me tape my head back on.
But facing, Dea gratias, the other way.

 

Vincent O’Sullivan

Tagged with: , ,
Posted in Poem
Search the archive

More results...

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Filter by Categories
Architecture
Art
Autobiography
Awards
Biography
Byline
Children
Comment
Contents
ebooks
Economics
Editorial
Education
Essays
Extract
Fiction
Gender
Graphic novel
Health
History
Imprints
Language
Lecture
Letters
Letters
Literature
Māori
Media
Memoir
Music
Natural History
Non-fiction
Obituaries
Opinion
Pacific
Photography
Plays
Poem
Poetry
Politics & Law
Psychology
Religion
Review
Science
Short stories
Sociology
Sport
War
YA Reviewers
Young adults
Recent issues: subscriber-only access

    Subscribe to NZ Books to access the issues above

    Search by category

    See more