untitled_willow on rice paper_cecilia white

we often slept like that in the hive
as we lay listening for the enemy

one eye scouting disturbance
the other ready to rise

I recall the way you thought
bees could warm you

as the wild bluff of your edges
sheered away

into the ropes and nails
of your compass

I swam the road ahead of you
noting tide and conflagration

searching for that menacing hum
in the unproductive heat

I was never gone for long
returning with news of memories

strange calm before the swarm

                                                       cw april 2015