Forever
Janine Canan
Magnolia tree, knotted and scrawny, flame bud, rose bud, wild yellow iris. Hands reaching deep in the soil. Or waiting curled, purring in your lap's dark meadow. Gold ring of laughter. Companion of my dreams. An aureole dances around your skin's darkness: It is a wish. Sacred your eyes open as I enter in. Then we sleep together, dream and stir, braiding our silken limbs longer and longer. We are growing in the yard. At night we're lit by the stars. White fur of magnolia, flame red of rose, mouths of yellow iris. Fingers that link, necks listening in the wind. Two wishes that have understood one another forever.
