POEM A DAY – January 31 – VANESSA SHIELDS

I had a vivid dream…and it slathered me in melancholy…tried to release it into a poem. I think it was motivated by all the erotic writing I’ve been reading as we prep for our upcoming writing retreat…I am alchemically affected by all the…tension and mystery and mischief and pleasure. And the thrill of the haibun continues…holding up the poem with a haiku is proving to be extremely satisfying!

Melancholy, with cause

his gaze a tether sadness-seeded
in the field of desperate destiny
caught in the tangles of
her crochet heart, soft and heavy

she closed his car door, a helpful gesture
and smiled a smile that made strangers remember hope
he followed her down busy streets
loud with garbage and food and money

and when she stopped because she felt a pull
he was there at the curb, skin peeled open
heart hammering in his palm begging her
to stand close enough to kiss

she knew the damage he offered her
knew how to repair it, and without words she
took his nucleus and placed it back under his ribs
buttoned his bloody shirt, pressed her breasts

against him, a soul suture
he gripped her hips, his tether quivered
and in the sacred small space between
their lips lifetimes of love storied

she whispered a tattoo into his ear
touched her tongue on his pulse
then stepped back, boundary building
his son in the backseat, his wife on the cell

melancholy’s muse
inside now and forever
finding a lost pearl