I had been dreaming
about eating bruised peaches
that grew from a tree
by the river, its water
thick and sweet as sap.

I thought I saw an old woman
shaking her dustmop,
but it was only the moon
and stardust in the dark
that never stops.

In the fields
there was something barren
like a journey
and echoes of salt
sprinkling on a table
with food laid out for a wake.

The fog from the dream
by the river was smothering;
I was suffocating lying there
where it is said a young mother
once walked into the water
with the pockets of her dress
stuffed full of smooth rocks.

I woke when I heard
shouting that tore out the light
as night came flying by
like a bird dressed for a feast
wearing his finest black feathers.

A clock ticks time,
A heart beats fast.
Her mouth whisper spells,
she couldn't cast.
The lies lie down,
beneath her lips.
Loving a man,
for his blood.
They were cursed,
under the full moon.
Blood for blood,
death in love.

I get trapped
By ropes braided with scales
And hiss it whispers
"Love"

Like the venom it bites me with
Makes me hallucinate.

Now I'm with you in a room
I'm not sure if I'm the interrogator
When I ask these questions.
You say it depends on the confidence you carry
I say my confidence vanished with your "no".
You say fine then the interrogation is over.

Fleeting are feelings of euphoria
Come in a fleet of reality.
Fire the pessimism
Oh! We got a hit!
Now he feels uncertainty
Insecurity
Trapped

In a room with you and I enjoy it
Five minutes is all I need to feel euphoria
Come in with a fleet of reality
Fire the pessimism
Oh!  It hurts even more now,

I'm in a room with you and I enjoy it.

the weight of seven
hummingbirds -- 21 grams --
is what leaves the body
after death

on that hummingbird breath
the soul leaves
a wispering whisper
of seven tiny, winged cavatinas

being sung back
and singing themselves
forward
into the chorus

to enter again
a melody -- in
the Eye Of God

shimmering
iridescent
wings beating
the rhythm of Love



c. 2018 Roberta Compton Rainwater