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To An Unknown Poet
To An Unknown Poet - Cilla McQueen
To An Unknown Poet
I was in the middle
of your poem on the internet
when the electricity went out.
You disappeared and left me
mid-sentence in the darkened room,
whereat I lost the gist
and wandered out to the kitchen to poke the fire.
I cannot tell whether you resolve
the unspoken thing,
or whether it will return to haunt us.
In the sudden darkness
I was leaning towards you
impossibly far, stroking
your temple and whispering
incomprehensible fragments –
from Fire-Penny (Otago University Press, 2005), © Cilla McQueen 2005, used by permission of the author and the publishers. Recording from a private recording: Cilla McQeen reads from Fire-Penny and Soundings (2011)