Donne's Girouette

November 27, 2022

This tale begun

My needle spun

No north, no south,

My eyes out-strung

What farce is this

Oh wait, there’s east!

Apace, meadow there

‘It’s west, my dear’

Pirouette, void stare

Too much noise - can’t hear

Whoosh, over here!

Arrest! Arrest!

Madness, this dance

A push, a pull

Then sudden—

Fixt

A whisper

‘I’m you, you me’

Come now

Let’s be

But just for a bit

Your eyes

My tincture

Your lips

My balm

Quiet sigh,

Brief rest.

Now go—

Be swift

I’ll drown,

you see

But compass!

Tap tap

Tap again

Not a quiver

Sweet star

Where’ve you gone

Swing back

We were home,

Don’t you see?

My north, my south

Swing back to me!

by Kelly Easton

Kelly Easton holds a Master of Arts in French Translation and Conference Interpretation from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS). She spent fifteen years interpreting in the halls of diplomacy, working with the words of others. She now tends to her own writing. She lives with her husband and young son in Northern Virginia, where she can often be found riding horses cross-country. She is the Editor of Compass Rose Literary Journal.