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I Ask You

by Malika Bierstein

What scene would I want
to be enveloped in more than this
one: body, breath
and wine intertwined
beneath shadows of dancing firelight.
It seems right, an ordinary night at the local diner
and now this, telephone and TV silent
as the record ends, then skips.

It gives me time to think
about all that is going on outside—
leaves scratching the patio like fingers,
mangos tumbling from branches, each one
falling with a loud thump on the roof
above. Amazing how such a small tree
can bear so much fruit.

Beyond this scene
there is nothing more that I need,
no promises of eternity
or castles that erode
like crystallized stone.

No, it’s all here,
familiar deep grooves in the dark
worn wood of my Chinese cabinet,
a book on Buddhism and love, not to mention
you and I.

So forgive me if I close my eyes
and just listen for a moment
to the boom-bap of fruit
falling in unison with the rain outside,
synchronicity a distinctive melody
catapulting explosive words from our lips
to a thousand tiny stars in the sky.

07/31/2009

Posted on 07/31/2009
Copyright © 2024 Malika Bierstein

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Kristine Briese on 07/19/11 at 06:44 PM

I can't get over how beautiful your writing is. It leaves me speechless.

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