Green and Shadowby Nancy BurkeThe thickest stems cast Thicker shadows, throw down the Gray, spreading halos Of obscurity, unfurl the soft, deep Silhouettes of absence and String together, on a single cord, The unlit cusps of twenty moons. The thickest shadows Draw the thick stems upward, Dangle them like fat pearl strands Across the graceful throats of Seven gray-white Aprils, and Glint them in the blades Of twenty blue-white stars. The stems and shadows. The garden; lovers straining, Symmetrically, to kiss; the Goblet, whose thick stem makes and Sunders them, whose Bowl overflows with shadows, Soil, berries, silence, thorns. © 2008 by Nancy Burke. All rights reserved. |