Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Eight or Eighty

at eight he trusted
everything about her

sheets slapped
happily cool,
taunting the heat,
heavy like cheeks
reddened with fever

lavender soap
melted, dripping
like petals onto
a vegetable garden
of beans and beets
tossed against the
porcelain, vibrant
like a summer salad

he held his breath,
toes splayed like
tubers spreading
across the bottom
of the pond

rooted there,
he felt safest

her hair gossamer
above him, eyes
a prairie’s bluest sky,
calmly watching over

at eighty,
he saw the yellowed
grasses wave

and willed her return
like a child begging
the rain to stop

an orphan adrift;
longing for home -

finally she came -
hands in her apron
reaching for a cinnamon;
he folded into her

behind his eyes
the bubbles rise,
escaping to the surface

again beneath
the fondest smile

heather r. reed 011006

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:58 AM

    Beautiful.

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  2. This is really good! You are a real poet. Good work. (If you get a chance, have a look at my poems and tell me what you think). Cheers!

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  3. Anonymous3:19 PM

    This begs to be read aloud. . .as all great poetry. You're so talented.

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  4. Thanks for your comment on my poems. In fact, very few people have read them, so I'm glad to hear you give them a good response. Keep up the writing and thanks again!

    ReplyDelete