Holiday
A twilight-threaded evening—
summer spreads spirit
almost imperceptibly. Fireflies hedge-hop
amongst black-veined vines.
Olive trees catch light.
Rain begins.
A waiter crosses the patio.
Your eyes follow him speaking
victory of how you stay out of reach.
I know their grammar, channels of thought.
I’m a student of the language of eyes—
their museums, libraries, mirrors
holding vestiges of light
from forgotten images.
They’re your mother’s eyes.
They’re mine watching an evening
settle on the sea
at Macrionos, night scraping
its skin along the walls of the Acrios Hotel.
Often they’re lust.
When we make love, sometimes aggressively,
your eyes become storms—
a damp soil smell in my nostrils.
Then your voice too is mine.
This weather your words.
This place, a language.
Ian Burgham, is the author of six collections of poetry. He has performed his work in Canada, the UK, and Mexico. His work has been published in over 25 literary journals in Canada, Australia, the U.S. and the UK. He has toured the UK several times reading in London at the Canadian High Commission’s Canada House, Edinburgh Scotland (Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Summerhall), at the University of Glasgow, Manchester Libraries and Stratford-Upon-Avon. In October, 2016 he participated in the 4th International Congress of Language and Literature in Mexico. In 2017 he will tour Ireland and the UK.