BACKYARD EROTICA
Rain sated, the lily quivers:
Magenta, deep-throated
Open since daybreak, leaning
Into the shimmering
Gauze curtain of water.
An interlude of silence:
We hear the final
Chime on the patio stones.
Stroked by sunlight,
The lily arches, uplifted
For the hummingbird’s thrust.
RUG HOOKING
Three women, warmed by a wood stove
And cactus blooming in springtime, handle
Soft wool. One thumb and finger, unseen
Beneath the burlap, locate the next connection.
A dowser’s stick or well bucket, the hook
Goes down and brings up particles of water,
Petals, greenery, clouds or sky. A starling
Flaps at the window, puzzled by plants in pots.
She streaks the race and toss and curl of wave
In wind, the sail tilting, seagulls diving.
Medieval women weaving tapestries,
Nuns embroidering altar cloths, or frontier
Wives quilting Texas stars, they talk
Of coming wars, sickness, healing herbs,
Babies, retirement plans and children’s destinies.
The pup, a fluffy mushroom, sniffs and sneezes.
EGYPTIAN STATUETTE
(for Jennifer)
The swimming child is as slim
As the stem of a daisy.
Who carved her eased the knife
In a sharp caress
That shaped her slender thighs
And outstretched arms,
Prenubile breasts and tiny
Waist. Her hair
Is gathered at the side –
A young girl’s style.
Her toes are dancer’s points.
She may have held
A fish between her hands.
The golden foil
Of bracelets and broad collar
Have left their marks.
She was not a commoner.
I want to buy
Her replica and give her
To my granddaughter,
Who only last week swam
To me as straight,
As juvenile
And as ephemeral.
ENDINGS
Overnight,
Like a peony,
Love may fall into a heap
Of petals
Or stand tall,
A pearly everlasting,
Nectorless,
Sundried.
A POEM FOR CARL SAGAN
(and NASA’s Natalie Bataha, who discovered Kepler 10)
“In order to let go, you have to be there
In the first place,” Carl said.
Walking and seeing, perceiving and feeling,
Attention must be paid:
Inspecting grains of sand, glimpsing exo-planets,
Forgetting the self,
Neurons interconnecting, concocting recipes,
Not “buying off the shelf.”
Though we are merely stardust
And to stardust must return,
Our flickers of light, in the midst of dark matter,
May provide some insight.