Isabella

Isabella,
the corn has ripened.
See here, she is green & rough
to the touch
She has thrown out a camouflage
of dull brown strands
When we open her,
there is the plump gold
of edible flesh
there is the silken softness
of her true hair
Isabella, these are the secrets
that shy women share.

Spring Equinox

I fall backwards into your mouth of a dozen wines
Into the taste of you & the sweetness
I sleep in the canal of your throat to make you whisper
There is an equinox born today & we are equal
for this one moment.
I fly from your lips to face your eyes
If we touch the first day of Spring & purchase
the first morning stars
we may use them as currency & buy our way upwards
into the sky of the summer
We will find the heat & the warm color of flowers
From the highest branches we may step
into the space of gravity
We will slide off the sun rays into splendor
With our last coins we will buy flight
& fancy ourselves weightless.
It is all possible.

All Night I Slept

All night I slept with my neck broken
into the crook of your arm
nude with solitude & damp with fatigue
I saw the big and little dipper
spoon stars into the darkness
through the open window on the top floor
In the early hours I heard the rain
in a metal downpour
and I stood for a moment
in the blustering drumbeat
No stars, no sun, just a clean awakening,
a steady sequence of gray lines
much like the ones I had drawn
in my mind
about misgivings & giving in,
about sleeping in stars & awakening
and walking
and rain.

© Phibby Venable 08