SurVision Magazine
An international online magazine
that publishes Surrealist poetry in English.
Issue Eleven
NORMAN CRISTOFOLI
Dead Pool
Birds sit on rocks where water used to be,
eyeing remnants of fish bones picked clean,
leaving skeletal outlines for future archeologists to find.
Seven ducks stand confused,
looking at the memory of their migration.
"Was I born here?" says one to another.
Shoreline foliage feigns the colour of dehydrated beige.
The sun shines with apologetic brightness,
knowing its rays are the curse of this forsaken place,
but unable to give way to the rains of life,
or retract its smile in this forgotten cycle of the elements.
An albino squirrel turns over pebbles,
reading the Runeric inscriptions,
hoping for an answer to its prayers.
On the distant horizon,
a single dark cloud conjures hope
for the denizens of this dried barren waste.
Within that darkness lies the balance
that allows life to flourish.
Norman Cristofoli is from Ontario, Canada. He published the Labour of Love literary magazine for over 25 years and was co-founder of the "Coffeehouse" artist networking site. Apart from several chapbooks of poetry and prose, he has published a collection of poetry Relinquishing the Past (Canambooks, 2020), and a play, The Pub (Canambooks, 2020).
