MISSISSIPPI
Christmas
The skies are low
here:
pitch-black blankets
when the nights are cloudy,
star-happy when
the nights are clear.
O splendid whisper,
O Orion so within reach,
warrior, springy symbol of
peace in mid-winter,
crowning
our memories
of a China-berry
tree seen in the azure
of the day, the sun,
a permanent
seduction
beading every tip
of the calm, blond, slender
upward reaching
twigs. |