Roz

I am Waiting 


I am just behind the curtain,
I am listening at the door,
I am in between the pages of the book upon the floor,
I am peering through the window, 
I am tapping at the pane,
I am waiting, I am waiting, love, for you to say my name

I am swirling in the leaves around the bench where once we sat,
I am hanging on the hallstand with your coat, your gloves, your hat,
I am dancing in the toadstool ring beside the apple tree,
I am waiting, I am waiting, love, for you to call to me

I am billowing on the washing line between the sheets and towels,
I am swooping through the headlights of your car upon an owl,
I am howling down the windy street with grit between my fingers,
I am waiting, I am waiting, love, as long as loving lingers

I only closed my eyes a moment.
Was it yesterday?
The calendar upon the wall shows years have passed away.
I fear you are forgetting, as my colours fade to white;
I’m just an echo in the hallway, in the stairwell, in the night

Just a smudge upon the mirror as the bathroom fills with steam,
a hair upon your pillow, or a fragment of a dream,
an eddy in a stream, a pack of cards long-since unshuffled,
a half-remembered conversation, voices soft and muffled

I am spreading out upon your bread and ticking in your clock,
I am crying in the onion bed and sighing in amongst your socks,
I am whistling through your letterbox and waving from the sea
I am waiting, I am waiting, love, for you to come to me.

Roz has been writing poetry on and off all her life.  She is an accredited literary translator from Dutch and Flemish, with 26 years of experience, specialising in poetry for publication and performance. She has also had poetry translations from German and French published, including some Dadaist works last year as part of a book translation for Bloomsbury.  She writes and performs dark stories for adults or children, on stage, online and to commission on podcasts, such the Super Great Kids’ Stories podcast. Some of her storytelling work can be seen on her YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@RosalindBuck.