#dervish house

[narcodigitalhedonist]

Dervish House by Ian Mcdonald cover art by Stephan Martiniere

[thebookstheygaveme]

McDonald & Pratchett.

I gave him 

A second-hand copy of Witches abroad

with its wicked humour and cheeky charm,

A week before we got together,

The day he went out with my friend.

He left it unread for weeks:

Pratchett isn't that good, I've heard.

Read it much later

and took back his words

Even though, by then,

it was far too late for us.

Too late even

for me to take back my gift

and certainly much too late

for him to take back the hurt.

The second time round

I gave him The Dervish House.

Weaving together 

things we loved- together and separately.

Art history, religion, urban sub-cultures mine

The finance and economics bits his

And the science fiction we shared:

In its warp and weft, intricately

Beautifully,

Like a rich, glossy kelim.

He had learnt his lesson this time

Enough, at least

To write

And tell me

How much he liked the book.

Pity it wasn't enough.

No, not nearly enough

To hold us together, though.

He sent me ebooks.

recommended a few comics.

shared his hard disk

with pictures of me

and of other women in it.

He gave me words

without feelings

He gave me promises 

without meaning.

He did send me a plush toy

Once.

And broke his word the very next day.

He gave me memories

that I'd rather not have

and he left me some scars.

He never gave me a book, though,

Not once.

Not at all.

Some people have a gift

for giving

Some

for

forgiving.

He didn't have the one

And I still don't have the other..