Prophetic Voices

Herewith, the latest selection from dusted-off published poetry and short fiction, circa 1970s vintage and beyond....

Map Reading

The mortal wrappings
shrunk and desiccated
two old souls leaning into the
day
hunched inside themselves
supporting one the other
sloping gently
down the Saturday street.

His hair a lofty wisp
in the breeze; hers lies
grey and complacent
over a face lined with
(could one read faces)
equal measures of bitterness
and sorrow.

They have one another
through the creeping years;
not cause in itself for joy?

But faces are not easily read
the inner self privacy incarnate
those knife-sharp runnels
eyes which weep rather than see
might as easily be
celebrating memory.

Who are we to read messages
in deep pools of age
running dark fingers of memory
through uncertain steps
living the past in the present
stumbling Saturday streets
into the meagre future?

c. 1983 Rita Rosenfeld
Published in Prophetic Voices, An International Literary Journal