gary cummiske y i remain indoors
I Remain Indoors Gary Cummiskey
r T E A RO O M BOOKS
Some of these poems have previously appeared in Carapace and Incwadi.
Published by Tearoom Books 2013 Stockholm, Sweden I Remain Indoors Š Gary Cummiskey Cover and graphic design by Jenny Kellerman Pillay
To Santoka Taneda
The woman eats a large pizza as she reads Margie Orford
On the first spring day I wear a short-sleeved shirt
Memory: 18 years old, hitchhiking 26 miles to the Stamford Book Fair
In the restaurant, everyone talks except those alone
A month in advance I imagine scattering my mom’s ashes
The voices outside the window seem like they’re inside my head
The dogs stop barking: The hill is steep
The young girl smiles as she lifts the glass to her mouth
The till-slip lies soaking in the rain
Books sell at R10 apiece ‒ still no one buys
Collapsing into ashes, the phoenix waved hello
Mist from the dam – where are we going?
Turning the page, a streak of blood appears
Action movies on Friday night – we watch a massacre in silent slow-mo
A white-haired woman crosses the street: I think of my mother
The cat holds the secret as the garden gate closes
At last some sunshine, but still I remain indoors
Insomnia: I want to leap out at the moon
Gary Cummiskey is a South African poet and publisher living in Johannesburg. He is the editor of Dye Hard Press, which he started in 1994. He is the author of several poetry chapbooks, including Romancing the Dead (Tearoom Books, Durban 2009) and Sky Dreaming (Graffiti Kolkata, India 2011). In 2009, he published Who was Sinclair Beiles? a collection of writings about the South African Beat poet, co-edited with Eva Kowalska. His work has been published in the US, India, France, Sweden and Denmark. Two of his poems have inspired short films. He regularly contributes artwork to the Tearoom Books blog. Cummiskey’s debut collection of short fiction, Off-ramp, will be published in 2013.
Also by Tearoom Books Glumlazi by Pravasan Pillay Knock Knock Jokes Pertaining to Common Human Ailments by Pravasan Pillay Romancing the Dead by Gary Cummiskey Reader Digest: Poetry and Recipes eds. Pravasan Pillay and Victoria Williams Loop #1 www.tearoombooks.blogspot.com