Sometimes Found by Night

Fiction & Poetry

May 1

Written By Amanda Barusch

Title – Sometimes Found by Night
Author – Amanda Barusch
Genre – Poetry
Type – Poem
Publication Date – 2015
Publisher – The Legendary, Issue 66
Medium – Magazine
Available at – The Legendary (USA, defunct)
Source Text:
Sometimes Found by Night
Paris, 1947
He, too, was struck by the pervasive scent
of onions and the ghastly cost of the war.
They danced in a discothèque
while deer strolled through the woods.
He watched her drink coffee
with a sugar cube between her teeth.
He invited her for a walk, and she cried
Stop! But it was only a seagull.
Not a cockatoo.
They enjoyed eavesdropping in cafes.
Once, on the street, he heard a soldier ask,
What day is this? And
she replied, I don’t know. I don’t live here.
He worried that she might find him dull,
she had, after all, no gift for opera.
She said he swallowed loudly.
But not all the time.
There was a certain comfort.
Later, he would ask his bride,
Why hyacinths? And
she would reply, Because marigolds smell like dying bees.
Audio

AudioPoem

Amanda Barusch

Amanda Barusch has worked as a janitor, exotic dancer, editor, and college professor. She lives in the American West, where she spends as much time as possible on dirt paths. She has an abiding disdain for boundaries and adores ambiguity. Amanda has published eight books of non-fiction, a few poems, and a growing number of short stories. Aging Angry is her first work of creative non-fiction. She uses magical realism to explore deep truths of the human experience in this rapidly changing world.

Sometimes Found by Night