& now this

yes, and. . . ?

how broken a body
must be from her remembered warmth
to find herself leaning in like this

what mouth so long
silenced learns to round the sound of her
lover’s name well enough to footprint the air

between them into shadow
lines suggestive of the mystery of why
it is so fraught to be a body here

longing in chorus
along ancient lines of undulating tones
over water, cavern, tundra, moor

into the next breath coming
to touch her with finally something
so long past the melt of seeming sure

into the hot mystery of skins
so sudden
& here

& hear
me now
i call you lover

come hurry
it is time now set me
as a seal upon

it all take it all
i give it up
to you know

say me back
or leave me
here

where matter
is what does not
beyond this place

where i
see you
seeing into here asking

where i
to respond
must grow limbs of song

to run
after the endings that come
and come upon us even now & i––

in this one day ever
hope to answer
my unutterable word

Author: Stacey C. Johnson

I keep watch and listen, mostly in dark places.

7 thoughts on “& now this”

  1. michael raven – Twin Cities, MN, USA – Nontraditional scribbler of words; occasionally coherent. Mostly harmless. Author of "galdr: thought + memory".
    michael raven says:

    Wow! I love the energy of this one, Stacey. That second stanza has great “mouthfeel” to it when spoken aloud, but this is a fine offering all around. Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Michael! And now I’m going to have mouthfeel in mind when reading/ editing future things, which I love : )

      Reply
  3. chrisnelson61 – Stourbridge, UK – Chris Nelson was born in East Anglia, but grew up in Birmingham when his family relocated when he was still a young child. After leaving school he studied computing at what was then Wolverhampton Polytechnic, before deciding that it was not a career path he wanted to follow. He retrained as a teacher and has taught in a primary school in Dudley since the mid 1980's. He has dabbled in writing short stories since his youth, but has began writing more seriously since the turn of the century. He lives in Stourbridge with his wife and two children.
    chrisnelson61 says:

    Stunningly powerful piece, Stacey. I like the questioning aspect here – reminded me a little of Blake.
    Fine writing.

    Reply
      1. chrisnelson61 – Stourbridge, UK – Chris Nelson was born in East Anglia, but grew up in Birmingham when his family relocated when he was still a young child. After leaving school he studied computing at what was then Wolverhampton Polytechnic, before deciding that it was not a career path he wanted to follow. He retrained as a teacher and has taught in a primary school in Dudley since the mid 1980's. He has dabbled in writing short stories since his youth, but has began writing more seriously since the turn of the century. He lives in Stourbridge with his wife and two children.
        chrisnelson61 says:

        My pleasure. And indeed, never another quite like Blake.

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