I knocked on
the cottage door
and your mother answered
is Yehudit home?
I asked
she looked at me blankly
she's in the bath
she said
can I come in
and wait?
she nodded
and I followed her
into the large
sitting room
where she indicated
where I should sit
so I sat
she walked out
into the kitchen
I heard her switch on
a kettle
then she put her head
into the room
and asked if I wanted
a hot drink
I said
tea would be nice
and so she took
her head away
and I heard her
muttering away
under her breath
I wondered how long
you would be
and how far you
had got with your bath
and wished
I was the water
in the bath
to be able
to embrace you
and put myself
around you
sugar?
milk?
your mother asked
yes both please
I said
letting the image of me
as the water
in your bath
run away
your mother brought in
two cups and set them
down on a table
she shouldn't be long
your mother said
she sat down
and sipped her tea
looking at me
and I thought
just as well
she cannot mind read
or I would be
on the way out
the door
but luckily
she couldn't
and I became
the water in your bath
once more.
Aug 24, 2015
Aug 24, 2015 at 1:51 PM UTC
I knocked on
the cottage door
and your mother answered
is Yehudit home?
I asked
she looked at me blankly
she's in the bath
she said
can I come in
and wait?
she nodded
and I followed her
into the large
sitting room
where she indicated
where I should sit
so I sat
she walked out
into the kitchen
I heard her switch on
a kettle
then she put her head
into the room
and asked if I wanted
a hot drink
I said
tea would be nice
and so she took
her head away
and I heard her
muttering away
under her breath
I wondered how long
you would be
and how far you
had got with your bath
and wished
I was the water
in the bath
to be able
to embrace you
and put myself
around you
sugar?
milk?
your mother asked
yes both please
I said
letting the image of me
as the water
in your bath
run away
your mother brought in
two cups and set them
down on a table
she shouldn't be long
your mother said
she sat down
and sipped her tea
looking at me
and I thought
just as well
she cannot mind read
or I would be
on the way out
the door
but luckily
she couldn't
and I became
the water in your bath
once more.
A BOY GOES TO SEE HIS GIRL FRIEND AND CONFRONTS HER MOTHER IN 1962.
Request permission to use this poem