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November 27, 2022

Donne's Girouette

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 

Swing back

 

We were home,

Don’t you see?

 

My north, my south

Swing back to me!

© the author

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.

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