Lotus

For my friend, who 

sent me a letter in the mail even though 

we see each other every day, just 

so she could gift me a card and 

a lovely little poem; 

Night loved Day so much, 

she folded back her dark, starlit cloak 

to make more room for Day’s light to bloom 

and spill gold over the World. 

Think of whispers in the shade
Picnic cloths and lemonade

Afternoons in softened light
Books that stretch long into the night

The man stopped, bending over, weeping until his tears seemed to fill a gaping hole in his heart he had not noticed was there.

It followed him like a curse. Every step he took, the tick tick ticking of his heart echoed in the chamber of his ears, trailing him in the hallways, threatening to expose all that he was.

The sky spreads itself wide,

a canvas, breathless and unspoken.

As dusk dips its brush in purple and gold.

Each cloud is a stroke,

soft as whispering wind,