(for Nikki V.
– translation: Peter Mason)
EXIT IV – Equinox
Every time you go south,
I steel myself: don’t turn around,
Look ahead, don’t look back.
Once I did look back,
You laughed as you danced out of the street,
Around the corner.
My stomach churned.
I clung
To the glimmers of hope
That lay there, perchance, on the ground.
Every time you go south,
The air cools.
The days darken.
The pulse slackens.
And the heart. The head confused.
But still: you go.
You come back ever
And you go again.
And you never stay for long.
Antony Oomen
7.XII/2011
Amsterdam