The Prairie

 Valentine's Day Challenge poem #12.  I'm having an ekphrastic day! This one was inspired by listening to Lucia Micarelli . (Click this link to hear the exact song that inspired this poem!)  

The Prairie

By Ieisha McIntyre

The prairie, outstretched and vast in its greenness. 

You are farther away than ever the years or distance could make.

Close held in memory is the strength of your arms,

The heft of your weight against thighs.

Your breath against my neck—

Only the touch of the breeze as it contorts itself through the pillars of the house.

My feet pad gently against the course wood grain of the weatherworn porch. 

Lured toward the light of the setting sun—

I can hear your voice travel through the brush,

Just above the hum of the fireflies as the sunsets.

You rush upon the warm summer wind, graze the hem of my dress, slide finger light

Up the crease of my thighs,

And the curve of my waist,

To the cleft of my breast.

Defenseless, I breathe in the warmth that was you.

And for one moment,

We are shining light of love and harmony. 

We are partner friendship, forever.

But the gathering of night comes to our day,

And the cold creeps into the breeze—

Pounds out the rhythm of ending that all living things hear and deny.

Bare feet to the dusky ground,

I start my evening search for the clothe blown free of the line,

Call the cat,

Draw the water and wash the porch free of the dust of the day,

Lend coolness to the night’s thoughts.

Speak softly, gently the words that came from your lips.

Look my love—

All the plain is amber and orange.

Red.

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