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Last Night

Last Night

A poem by Geraldine Green

we went to spain in the tight bud of a coral quince
the taste of it reminded you of madrid
days wandering bells and alleyways
nightstreets of closed eyes, doors
a dusty green siesta.
in the heart of granada i hear you
in the sharp cries of fountains, or the long hooks of women
that day we walked to santiago
in the same clothes as pilgrims, in truth
we held hands, wore denim.
that taste between our teeth as we tipped back
a plastic bottle of water and fresh lemons.
everything became alive that moment
when the citrus hit our throats,
like rain after thunder.
everything flashed amber,
tasted of incense and salt.

in the pine barrens the nonsense of birds.
in the pine barrens the high call of blue
in the pine barrens an old man hauling prayers
from the bottom of an arid pool.

in the days after we became wind and sand
became the tight buds of coral
that the sea broke and planted in our garden.
when we were once the cry of pines
plunging into the silence of a walled ocean.

From the new collection Passio,
Flarestack Publishing, Editor Charles Johnson.

Copyright 2006 by Geraldine Green

Geraldine Green Geraldine writes:
"Last Night" grew out of a line that I said to myself one morning as I woke, Last Night I went to..., and thought where would I liked to have gone to? Spain! Then thought, how did I get there? And the vivd image of the "tight bud of a coral quince" came to me—I'd been gardening the previous day and had seen the new, tight buds of quince, and the image remained firmly imprinted in my unconscious.

Geraldine Green is from Cumbria, UK, with Irish roots. Her first collection, The Skin, was published in 2002 by Flarestack. She graduated in 2005 with an MA (Distinction) in Creative Writing, Lancaster University. Green runs writing workshops and is a tutor for Continuing Education, Lancaster University. Her second collection, Passio, was published in April 2006 (by Flarestack); she's currently working on her third collection. Her work has been published in the UK, Italy, and America. Geraldine's poetry has appeared in Obsessed with Pipework, Rain Dog, Neon Highway, Smoke, Citizen 32, Envoi, as well as US online magazines Out of Order, Poetry Bay, and Mountain Voices. She is an Associate Editor of Poetry Bay (Editor, George Wallace). Geraldine can be reached via email at: Geraldinegreen1@aol.com.

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