By Flynn O’Brien
scuffle of
ears perk/
hands that make you grateful for air
folding the universe into the gravity they make
pouring the tea
cutting a soft piece of lemon cake
smoothing pages in a book
sacred fading parchment
words surface delicate as minnows
each a chorus of consonants
riffling the heart
Ss patter like rain on pines
Bs as smooth as pistachio shells
Ts that tell you this moment alone you need
to be this
but until then
to be around
take shade in a presence
relax in the music of simple sounds and gestures
deliberately placed
like the sandalwood and cedar making her bones
the forest wind across her vocal cords
the softly cooing doves that live in her hand
Flynn O’Brien is a poet who lives in Portland, ME. O’Brien’s poetry collection, Cast (with drawings by Mary Hart) was published in 2022 by Elsewhere Press.