The Experiment by Jane Draycott

Dearests I have arrived. Some things
have already been taken: the small blue bowls
and airmail stationery, the summer tablecloth (only
slightly blue) and the darkness is now quite cleared.

All I can say is, try when you come not to think
of the dark: take the boat and do the experiment –
you will have to put every ounce of what you know
into it or it will never lift off or be carried across.

In a small country like ours you must be prepared
for no one to think this possible, like the first pioneers
of flight those two so close all their lives, watching the wind
and birds, their dazzling feats and equilibrium.

Sleep is chalky now. Most of the underblue
has gone from beneath the bed. Only the light remains
and the roses wild and idle just as you will remember them.
Stay together whenever the times allow.