Saturday, May 28, 2011

Phosphorescence by Anne Selden [Annab]

Phosphorescence

There's an owl outside my window-
I live in the city
his hoot takes me home
to the woods.
I'm naked as a nymph
following that sound
as sunlight seeps into my skin
I am like a leaf
filled with phosophoriscence.

A naked child-
my clothes wiggle on the branches
of a tree...
They've been emptied of me:
My bare feet
take me much farther
than any shoe can possibly go..

Each step feels the moist ground
leaves, moss, twigs
a stream to splash in
then let the cold water drip
on to a warm rock.

Last week I heard that owl
for the first time in ages
I was in the church offices
Why does he call me
after all these years,

and lead me back home
into the woods.

I am a leaf
filled with phosphorescence

A naked child
growing into a woman

listening
to an owl.



1987 Pinewood Poetry

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