she writes a letter with a smile and a ribbon in her hair
to the nurse across the sea.
she writes ' i want to meet you Grace.
we will get along like quills and ink
and you can tell me all about
the way you used to sing to dying soldiers
and that time the orphan saved you from drowning.'
and she thinks to herself
'it's as if things change so quickly
you don't even have time to
as if things change so quickly you don't even have time.'
she writes 'well Grace,
there was salt in the air that day
and the slight sting on my dry lips
from the juice of the orange felt good.
the boys had followed the dog path
away from shore
and into the forest,
hunting the great beast.
i turned to bernadette,
the blood on her face nearly dry in the sun
and in response to something she said,
i replied,
''i'll leave my impressions with the moments that made them
and i won't remember this."
but o grace,
mine is a small grief among the trees.'
This poem is featured as a haunting, spoken word track on the new Silian Rail album, which you can stream here