Jacquelyn Markham

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April is National Poetry Month!

Irises

take me home
 where canals flow
between iris-banks
H.D.
           

            I peer into this iris mother
            center deep with violet
            down to succulent stem    entrance
            to earth    nourishment    blue perfume
            floats to summer days  
                           Michigan cool

            iris bed     lily of the valley sweetness
            shadows on the north side of the house
            years’ old mountain of forsythia bush  lush
            under the secret dome of branches
            yellow flowerets   light interiors of spring
            changed now to a summer cave of moss
            black earth and silence    for a child alone

            where were they all?  the children?
            taking naps?  at school?  leaving only you and me
                                    you left me to myself
            in my haven   feeling you there
                        from window looking out
            buffalo grass my pillow    thick and cold
            only one white jet stream cutting
                        azure sky in an entire afternoon

            a clatter of plates would wake me
            kitchen bright and steaming
            reaching out    I would come to you
            lily of the valley bouquet       an offering     
                        damp fragrance of irises in my hair

 

                                                                   Jacquelyn Markham
 

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