Trading Holly
Tony D’Arpino
“The girl in red is actually a sound”
—Roberto Bolaño
The ghost inside me
Feeds the marketplace
It’s the mistletoe they want
A body of water
Suspended in mind
A primary pigment
Built into the old city walls
Was a bookshop
In winter code
A dealer in maps
Ephemerides of stars
And the blue sand of travel
A tiny plastic
Sun
Holding cloud cards
Commodity aesthetics
Of the holly thief
The market turns like fish
In pinwheel ice display
Singers and gamblers
Cakes and hats
I love holly
And the shadow
She casts
Tony D’Arpino is an American poet living in England. His most recent book of poetry is Floating Harbour (Redcliffe Press). His recent nonfiction book, Trees of Bristol, explores the legacy of the ancient forests of the English West Country, local tree lore, and the bio-diversity of the urban forest. Other work has appeared in Barrow Street, The Clearing, The North, Poetry East, Raceme and Raum.
