Two-step

G.I. and Lover, Hyde Park, London, 1944
Ralph Morse

Come with fiddler's reel,

quiver of leaves;

pull the tangle of branches

back from the sky.

Coax me to kick my shoes,

two-step the finest pine;

collapse in needles

at the base of the trunk.

Bark tastes my fingers

with mossy ridges,

like a green water dog

licking salt and scent.

Frost melts to dew.

I see myself in October eyes,

press the burn of summer

from your hair.

tk/October 2013 

A beautiful and unexpected midweek read by R.A.D. Stainforth...and in color too...