Home
> Hidden Messages > V. Freeport
V. Freeport
February 11, 2008
from “Scenes from a Westbound Train”
I thought he was her father, but
the way she pulled his hand,
heavy, limp and awkward, like a
dead koi from the black pond
of his lap; the way he couldn’t
look at her until he’d unhinged
the clasp of her watch and turned
the ticking face into her wrist;
the way they knit their brows,
concentrating on the other’s knees
in lieu of playing witness to their
teenage neighbors’ frisky schemes,
told me they were something sadder.
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
:: 
Categories: Hidden Messages
D.S. Apfelbaum
qarrtsiluni 
A very memorable poem and scene, Danielle, and that line about the hand “like a dead koi from the black pond of his lap” is a stunner. Thank you.
Absolutely, Beth. It’s nearly too audacious to work, but it’s a triumph. Loved it.
That koi line is superb, superb. A wonderful, powerful, terrifying piece.