Master of Disguises Quotes

“Daughters of Memory 

There were three of them, always three,
Sunbathing side by side on the beach,
The sound of waves and children’s voices so soothing
It was hard to stay awake. 
When I woke, the sun was setting.
The three friends knelt in a circle
Taking turns to peek into a small mirror
And comb their hair with the same comb. 
Months later, I happened to see two of them
Running in the rain after school,
Ducking into a doorway with a pack of cigarettes
And a glance at me in my new uniform. 

In the end, there was just one girl left,
Tall and beautiful,
Making late rounds in a hospital ward,
Past a row of beds, one of which was mine.”
― Charles Simic, Master of Disguises

“Scribbled in the Dark 
A shout in the street.
Someone locking horns with his demon.
Then, calm returning.
The wind tousling the leaves.
The birds in their nests
Pleased to be rocked back to sleep.
Night turning cool.
Streams of blood in the gutter
Waiting for sunrise.”
― Charles Simic, Master of Disguises

“At the hairdresser’s a girl leaps out of a chair, Her blond hair bouncing off her bare shoulders
As she runs out the door in her high heels.
“I must be off,” says the handsome boy to his grandmother.
His bicycle is where he left it.
He rides it casually through the heavy traffic
His white shirttails fluttering behind him
Long after everyone else has come to a sudden stop.”
― Charles Simic, Master of Disguises