The Rival by Sylvia Plath
If the moon smiled, she would resemble you.
You leave the same impression
Of something beautiful, but annihilating.
Both of you are great light borrowers.
Her O-mouth grieves at the world; yours is unaffected,
And your first gift is making stone out of everything.
I wake to a mausoleum; you are here,
Ticking your fingers on the marble table, looking for cigarettes,
Spiteful as a woman, but not so nervous,
And dying to say something unanswerable.
The moon, too, abuses her subjects,
But in the daytime she is ridiculous.
Your dissatisfactions, on the other hand,
Arrive through the mailslot with loving regularity,
White and blank, expansive as carbon monoxide.
No day is safe from news of you,
Walking about in Africa maybe, but thinking of me. Art by Richard Diebenkorn Recommended listening: Call It What It Is - Ben Harper
Links of the Day: Elsie Schrotthaufen's Book of Wonders Escape Traveler (I want!) Vintage Black and White Photos Brought to Life With Embroidered Details
Hi there,
Rohini Kejriwal has landed a job as co-pilot aboard the Solar Impulse, a solar-powered aeroplane. Yesterday's TAP blackout resulted from a technical problem- Ro dropped her iPhone while flying over the Pacific. 'These things happen' was her last tweet.