Thursday, April 15, 2010

For Billie Holiday


Painting by Harry Seymour


(for billie holiday)

billie holiday sat just
beyond the burning
horizon for six,
maybe seven, years
stringing her vocal cords
across a cheery red
spincasting rod,
swinging the line
forever into the dark
in the hopes of
nabbing this panfish.

then finally, on a
yet-to-be-shaped
morning, with unnamed
sorrow in my heart,
billie’s line caught
and – after carrying a long
hard song into the rippling
darkness – she knew
this one was for keeps
.

Yi-Ching Lin

Posted over on her site Yi's Bits on "Healthy Doses"

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