clemency

   

 

clemency

                                    It's not

about the light - but how dark

        it makes you depending

on where you stand.

                                Ocean Vuong

                                Eurydice

 

if i could pause in this fixed spot

i could watch how the drop of water on the top

of the birdbath's brim will

cast back the moon, falling half full. watch

her revolving on the olive branch

of morning. watch the water in the bowl,

cracked and compact with mid may's still

icy night, stay calm enough

to splinter her setting reflection. if i could

stop in that fixed spot or yet let

myself move with the moon i'd tell

myself she would break out of that drop

of water and slip from far to the lip

of the bowl close to me and let herself 

in or at least spill on my knees in the draught

of wind, the coming sun, before

she slips and slips under the gazing

ball in the shade of the brief azaleas