SurVision Magazine / Judith Neale

Many Houses

To Alison

Wax hands lay
on the burnished wood,

shimmering ochre
in the candlelight.

I gave you one,

because it contained
the world's grace.

Soft voices led me
to follow you through

lace and ribbon,
cool velvet and tapestries,

as blue as a newborn
kitten's eyes.

I leaned into the woman
in red, our foreheads

touched and her song
became mine, circular

and full of rippling notes
that hung in the air.

Delicate, ringing on
and further on –

like a Tibetan gong.

I didn't know
I could travel so far,

away from my
translucent body,

like an arrow
into you.

Judith Neale is a Canadian poet, mentor, educator, opera singer and spoken word performer. She has published eleven collections of her poetry, including A Quiet Coming of Light (Leaf Press, 2014), Splendid in its Silence, which won the SPM Publications (London) Poetry Book Competition and was published in April 2017, Cantata in Two Voices (Ekstasis Editions, 2018; with Bonnie Nish), A Blooming (Ekstasis Editions, 2019), Impromptu (Ekstasis Editions, 2020), and The Flaw (Ekstasis Editions, 2022). She is currently working on a new collection.

SurVision Magazine
About Us Archive Submissions Contributors Books Links Home Page
An international online magazine that publishes Surrealist poetry in English. Issue Twelve JUDITH NEALE Many Houses To Alison Wax hands lay on the burnished wood, shimmering ochre in the candlelight. I gave you one, because it contained the world's grace. Soft voices led me to follow you through lace and ribbon, cool velvet and tapestries, as blue as a newborn kitten's eyes. I leaned into the woman in red, our foreheads touched and her song became mine, circular and full of rippling notes that hung in the air. Delicate, ringing on and further on – like a Tibetan gong. I didn't know I could travel so far, away from my translucent body, like an arrow into you. Judith Neale is a Canadian poet, mentor, educator, opera singer and spoken word performer. She has published eleven collections of her poetry, including A Quiet Coming of Light (Leaf Press, 2014), Splendid in its Silence, which won the SPM Publications (London) Poetry Book Competition and was published in April 2017, Cantata in Two Voices (Ekstasis Editions, 2018; with Bonnie Nish), A Blooming (Ekstasis Editions, 2019), Impromptu (Ekstasis Editions, 2020), and The Flaw (Ekstasis Editions, 2022). She is currently working on a new collection.
Copyright © 2023 SurVision Magazine