Orienteering

[mikejewett]

Orienteering

I broke ground mapping out
your body - your hair
was a violet waterfall

splashing rhapsodies onto
paper. Your tattoos were scattered
streams. I marked neon

orange cairns for your
fingernails, nestling
them together

so they held
my hand. Flowers filled
up empty spaces,

replacing the bouquet
received by the other you.
When I penciled in our beach,

sanderlings dotting drumlins,
I lightly scented the paper
with ocean air and your perfume

to be tucked into an envelope,
sealed, and dropped into a canyon -
that spot on my cheek

where your lips left this scar.
I added the legend
where we both face north

and our bodies grow moss
and the sunlight of your eyes
gets lost among the shadows.

[tonyv]

Lyrical poems are at the top of my list of likes. This one is just right; it's not too long or too short. I can picture this couple, the artist and his subject.

While anyone can scent paper with his signature fragrance, I love how the speaker does so, also, with the ocean air. And I love how the poem brings light, even in the last stanza which, seemingly, leans toward darkness, yet nevertheless brings the poem around, full-circle.

Tony