The Final Remainder Copy Of Bahamas: In A White Coming On (1981) Given To Rebecca, An Englishwoman Poem
By Dennis Ryan
glimpses of backs,
a hand lifting the latch,
arms bundled with groceries
or faces huddled among dogs.’
—Dennis Ryan, “Each Life”, final poem from Bahamas:
In A White Coming On
‘Pickin’ up the pieces of my sweet-shattered dream…
her name is Ann and I’ll be damned if I recall her face,
she left me not knowin’ what to do/carefree highway,
let me slip away, slip away on you…’
—Gordon Lightfoot, ‘Carefree Highway’, You Tube Music Video
Yesterday, I gave the final remainder copy
of my second poetry book Bahamas: In A White
Coming On (1981) to my English friend Rebecca—
it seemed apt, appropriate, that she, an Englishwoman,
would receive the gift which she did most graciously.
‘You remind me of someone lost in time, a young woman
named Ann, ‘ I told her. ‘And there’s nothing I can do
to bring her back.” Backs, hand, hands lifting the latch,
arms bundled with groceries, faces huddled among dogs—
all images, all lost in time,1976-1980, Freeport, Bahamas.
