Awake at Dawn, Liz Drake |
after reading Li Ho
once we too were coils
let out
to be rearranged
amid lilacs and petrichor
our young bodies
bared thick the fitful drowse
of twined fingers
cerulean bands on a nightstand
glinting threshold of dawn
so when I leave you
your cool curtains
air a restless billow
half gone toward noon
I won’t wake you
our mirrors
two petal faces
in somnolent sheen
or ask you to drop
your posy of dreams
we each require
such different attentions
heat ascendant to swell
of finch and bunting
how strong our summering
we need no longer speak
of what we grow
toward that final harvest
so well arrayed our clouds
against open sky
Lisa Higgs