Daisy Barefoot Meadow Spring Children's Feet Feet

Reverberations

Even in paradise / all I could think of / was the earth.
– Najwan Darwish, ‘Paradise (II)’

As in—the river in your lungs sweet
Pppppwith milk. A lea of purple irises flowering at the bank.
How at first light, we danced—
Pppppyour tiny knuckles rounded in ivory. The stars adrift
in cattails. As in—now: from the hospital bed.
PppppThe slowing of your youth-less heart,
drowsed as the melody of a music box. The beats measured
Pppppin their disappearing . . .
Or as when a nurse gives the feel of gauze on your gums
Pppppand you are barefoot among daisies
and dandelion. The kids at play in our sun-stroked yard.
PppppA woman,
with full-bodied breaths. Little One, I want to climb beside your shrinking
Pppppbody and soften it to sleep. Spoon honey
from the gurgling of your chest—that I might lead you back
Pppppto your loveliness. I promise
I have not missed much . . . For all these years, I have seen God alive
Pppppin your pretty,
Pppppppppppwondrous bones.



Susan L. Leary Contributor
Susan L. Leary’s poetry has been published in many print and online journals, including The Christian Century, Crack the Spine, After the Pause, Not One of Us, and Gyroscope Review, among others. Her poem ‘In Utero’ was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She teaches at the University of Miami.
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