A poem by ELEANOR COE. 

 

i am
always eve
r i am mistaken in
living in memory again oh
on the river bank with a muskrat
we sat in silence of sunshine first thing
this morning his paws are dew wet my toast h
as the same crunch of frost underfoot in the field w
here stars had hung in the apple trees of the orchard all
ways lovely as daddy’s orchids in the window a window ledge th
is of my hot sticky honeyed limbs come summer where i felt not one
hot hornet sting with my dreams sweet and lavender stained the lily froth
of milk i mouthed over breakfast muddy feet sister bathes her tooth marks
on my forearm tantrum tears over that ruby gleam in the tub and our toys
scattered in play ice cream and lemonade in a stormy purple day when
the hay was cut and we stacked bails and climbed and ouch electric
fences on my new child limbs caught on barbed wire and insect
bites swimming down river with dogs’ paws naked as are
our feet padding homeward an ever hungry mouth
sounding still for their wayward daughter
drowned in dreams still still

 

 

Artwork: Helen Galloway – The Apple Gatherer

CategoriesEleanor Coe Read