Dirk van Nouhuys

The Window

The bedroom window closed against the draft —
my love is far away,
far away the impulse of our first embrace.

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Twisted wood--
a bird the river carved
with chilling hands.

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Autumn leaves kiss earth;
the old woman still tightens
balanced, thinning lips.

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Misery cannot stifle
Time, but we, their field,
our need for ease revealed,
can give the press and eyeful.
Eagle, wolf, and dark
raven, shadow-dim,
deploy where we have been,
to taste the final spark.

Dirk van Nouhuys is a native of Berkeley with a BA from Stanford in creative writing and an MA from Columbia in contemporary literature. He is married with three grown children. He worked for decades as a tech writer and manager. A few years ago Ihedevoted full time to fiction. He writes short stories, some experimental forms, and occasionally verse, but mostly novels, which have been published only in excerpts or serially. About 50 items of fiction and a few poems have appeared in literary or general magazines. He occasionally publishes photography.