To the Girl Next Door 1.5: Hallaig, Erthona, Achebe

[RiverNotch]

TO THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

As we lie in our rooms
waiting for sleep,
I know you can hear me
ringing the bell, that cholera-curse
suspended over the potter's field,
even with the whirring of the fan by your feet
and the prowling on the roofs
of the robber rats and the midnight owls
whose cowls are the color of fallen leaves. 
But what do you feel? Not that love your eyes
betrayed this morning, I'm sure --
for here in suburbia, lovers like us,
lost in the cock's two crows,
we all wait for the same Christ.

TO THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

As we lie in our rooms
waiting for sleep,
I know you can hear me
ringing the bell, that ancient
measure of life in the potter's field
suspended, even with the whirring of the fan
by your feet
and the prowling on the roofs
of the robber rats and the midnight owls
whose cowls are the color of fallen leaves -- you know,
lovers like us,
lost in the cock's two crows,
we all share the same coffin,
all wait for the same Christ.

TO THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

As you lie in your room
waiting for sleep,
I know you can hear me
even with the whirring of the fan
by your feet
and the creaking of the ceiling and the beams
to the prowling on the roofs
of the robber rats and the midnight owls
whose cowls are the color of fallen leaves -- again,
I know you can hear me
tolling the bell, that ancient 
measure of life in the potter's yard 
suspended, as the vespers and matins
wait for the dawn
and the cock's three crows -- don't you know?
Lost lovers all share the same coffin,
all wait for the same Christ.