Dream Departure

For twenty-seven years
She gathered the bits
Choosing only the most apposite ones,
Not perforce perfect or exquisite;
She assembled them with the greatest care
All her life,
Snapping piece into piece, just so,
Adding ribbon here, in a bow,
A dash of green paint,
Carving relief and panel--
Here there is smear of red
Where the knife slipped_
Now she is spent
And it is complete.
This consummate work
Stands, and walks slowly away
Turning once to speak,
But cannot recall her name.

A Bed of Blue Sky

She has been coiled so long
It is harder to let go than to hold
Jaws clenched, torqued and wound
Breath comes short and tight
But her smile is quick and startling
And in the plushness of evening
Her release is the sudden flight of a nation of birds,
Shocked into the knowledge that they are alive.