Authors: Richard Yaxley
Rose Leopard (21 page)
Once I would've thought her vulnerable, but here, now, I can see the strength of her, the lustre of her skin, the tilt of her nose, the grace that courses through those long elegant fingers.
Still at my feet, the boy has finished re-arranging his shells amongst the flowers, many of which, I notice proudly, are fresh.
âMilo,' I begin.
Pause for reflection.
âIt's Alex,' he tells me but earnestly, like he is reassuring an old man who has somehow forgotten.
He stands by my side.
âOkay ⦠Alex.' I say it as a word, not a name, roll the âl' gently and finish with a crisp, slightly sibilant âx'. âYour mother's idea. Very sensible and practical but still sweet around the edges. Exactly like her.'
âWhen people say my real name, I think of her,' he tells me, and I feel five small soft fingers creep between my own: the mesh and tug of love.
I smile, lean down, ruffle his bird's-nest hair.
âMe too,' I say. âMe too, Alex.'
A single petal, a tiny sprig of ivory, detaches from a flower and flutters onto the grass while the sun strokes our backs, kindly, warmly, like today it cares.
And I think, maybe it does.
Maybe. For just a moment anyway.
Acknowledgements
| William Blake | âThe sick rose' |
| S.T. Coleridge | âThe Rime of the Ancient Mariner' |
| e.e. cummings | âunlove's the heavenless hell' |
| Martin Luther | Quoted in The Book Of Quotations, Fitzhenry and Barker (Allen & Unwin, St Leonards 1994) |
| Bruce Dawe | âEnter without so much as knocking' from Sometimes Gladness: Collected Poems 1954-1978 (Longman Cheshire, Melbourne 1978) |
| Robert Browning | âMy last duchess' |
| Percy Bysshe Shelley | âPrometheus unbound' |
| Alfred Tennyson | âCharge of the Light Brigade' |
| William Shakespeare | âRomeo and Juliet' |
| William Shakespeare | âAs You Like It' |
First published in 2003 by University of Queensland Press PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia
© Richard Yaxley
This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any foram or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.
Typeset by University of Queensland Press
Distributed in the USA and Canada by International Specialized Book Services, Inc., 5824 N.E. Hassalo Street, Portland, Oregon 97213â3640
 | This project has been assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. |
 | Sponsored by the Queensland Office of Arts and Cultural Development |
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
National Library of Australia
Yaxley, Richard
The Rose Leopard
I. Title.
A823.3
ISBN 978 0 7022 3346 3 (pbk)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5865 7 (pdf)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5866 4 (epub)
ISBN 978 0 7022 5867 1 (kindle)