Time Difference & Other Poems Eastlit December 2014Eastlit

by William Marr

It is morning
and he paces up and down the room
in silence

In a distant room
she too paces up and down
in silence
yet it is already evening

Thousands of miles apart
they walk to a window simultaneously
and look up at the half-lit sky
in silence

knowing at this moment
a flick of the eyelids or a twitch of the lips
will certainly set off
an avalanche

here “annual ring” becomes meaningless
just like we don’t ask
the life history of an individual wave
in the ocean

still we train our cameras
on their rugged faces
each bearing a mark
from the Big Bang
while their hands
thrust toward
the sky

a laundry bag
stuffed
with smelly
days
of the gone week

he begins his ritual–
emptying contents into the washer
adding bleach
and detergent
closing the lid
putting three coins in the slots

the recycle
of another week

The Mayans still sleep in hammocks
between two trees. “Have a hammock”
is their daily greeting

Bright sunshine above
cool grass below

swinging between two trees
a sweet Mayan dream

Dark sky above
a sea of lights below

swinging between two skyscrapers
an acrophobe’s nightmare

Time Difference & Other Poems is not the first set of poems that Eastlit have published by William Marr.

Five Poems by William Marr were published in Eastlit August 2013. The poems were: Homecoming, At Lo Wu Stn, Bian Zhong, On the Towpath, The Great Wall.
William Marr Poetry a collection of five more poems was published in Eastlit February 2014. The poems were: An After Dinner Immortal, Thinking of You on the Train, Snowflight, The Little Bird and City Windows.
Yellow River & Other Poems featured in Eastlit June 2014.