I’m trying to turn raindrops into castanets
I have six strings, a knife, and an oyster around my neck.
Raindrops into castanets, the storm demands a volta.
The eisenglass above the galley walls are mired with salt
as wide as the Algecíras bay.
I wish I could wipe the windows with this food,
because it tastes like the sand off the Atlas Mountains,
gritty, ancient—and all I want is you.
When we were young 18 at school, I met you while I played.
I want a moonlit, howling quarter flanked
with invincible sunlight, olive groves, good food,
gypsies playing palmas—dancing, screaming—
You would have run off with me, I’d have done the same.
Raindrops into castanets, the drops go-go-go-go, go-go-go…
4 thoughts on "I’m trying to turn raindrops into castanets"
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This is perfect:
“I have six strings, a knife, and an oyster around my neck.
Raindrops into castanets …”
Kevin
The language in this poem in delicious. Hints of music, culture, memory, nature and food. And to top it all off — love!
I felt the memory, reach, effort and regret in this poem. To see oneself past those filmy windows because “the storm demands a volta.” The last stanza is a clear dream of a turn in mood. To turn “raindrops into castenets” is harder than it sounds.
you had me with the two words “raindrops” and “castanets” and the surreal bouncing of sounds throughout