Heroines

The heroines in Burnett and Montgomery
wear drab, strange clothes, have flaming
hair, soulmates, jewels in their ears,
and sometimes almost die.
A wild Mariposa draws girls like these
to the edge of a sea-cliff
to fall, to cling to roots,
and miraculously, to be saved;
while the neighbor's plump, translucent apples,
glowing green against the stairs,
tempt them to try
and then dream themselves poisoned.

Even when locked in dark parlors,
their earrings flash and gleam, and heavy
hair falls around their tear-stained faces.
They hear an owl hoot, the dark clock tick,
see the moonlight on the white, good curtains.
In the silver light they hear a night-bird
call from the garden, where someone waits,
not yet in love, crouching under the pear-trees.