Bird of Paradise is Stranded
Bird of Paradise Stranded
by Laura Summerville Reed
The colors of April are easily carried
into the autumn chill
when the breath of summer
is still hot upon your skin from your lover’s kiss
Whispered words pool between warm flesh
tiny orbs condense in the cool night air
of the falling season
Are they strung together by the breath of a word?
Turned to prism talismans
left by lips pressed against eager flesh
Crystal beads suspended from the gossamer thread
tangled into
the web that’s been knotted in the night
Morning dawns and stabs
as deeply as a venom
The sunlight catches the
glinting strands upon your skin
Telling
You
Out
You dare not brush them off
at any cost
and they’ve cost you dearly
The colors of April cannot last
The weather is in your bones
The ripened fruit
is not much longer on the vine
or full in your mouth
for your downy, winged heart to fed upon
the colors of April
and the breath of summer survived the falling season
but the winter’s chill creeps in
Wings of desire are earthbound now, spent
The blackened taste of oil chokes thick
in the throat of summer
The colors are beaten and tender now
Washed to grey in this cruel season
too many storm clouds are on the horizon
and your cloven, winged heart is down
like this rain
©LSR 2010