"Steerage" Anne Yale, 2009. Brushed air.
11 Sep
Poem in a Bottle
Moonflower
(Datura wrightii)
Spring-loaded desert plants
flash brown recluse,
red-tailed hawk.
Couched in green, she waits
along the roadside, nodding
her sweet fragrant head
to passersby.
Moon hears her confessions
(as Sun cannot keep confidences).
She covets lilies’ shimmering
threads. Swallow her –
visions flee all borders
to escape us.
Night holds her in secret
like a mistress, knowing,
should she break free,
she will strike us blind.
Voice in the Wilderness 