L`Arlesienne.(New Version).

As though commanded by some unseen power
I spoke out your name, loud and clear
Impulsively shouting your name in the room
That we once had shared that long ago autumn.

Until that instant I had not thought of you,
I was busy thinking of other things - my Sunday lunch,
And what I should do in the long hot evening
To cauterize the wound of loneliness.

And then for some reason I called out your name;
And the radio switched off, and then back on again
By itself, as though to the cadence of my calling;
As though your name had some power over the airways.

For a minute or two I could not speak or think.
I was not in a dream, but by calling out your name,
It seemed I had stopped the transmission of L`Arlesienne,
Bizet`s elegant score about unrequited love.

And for the rest of the day I sat lonely and listless.
Thumbing through photographs. Staring out of the window.
Watching the shadows lengthen and deepen.
Silently waiting for the phone to ring.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter.
July 14th. - November 7th. 2019.