Lizz Murphy — Poem 105: x. Nest

From 10 short poems [one by one]

i.

Apple

apple of my eye   I peel and core you

ii.

Laundry

brimming basket

all my secrets

one cycle after another

iii.

Frame

someone has framed an oddity   look again   it’s a mirror

iv.

Skull/hook

blue as bruised cold

or chattering teeth

you offer me keys   

but no doors

v.

Sliced Bread

before you were baked -

grasses blowing freely in a field

then a landslide of grain -

here comes the guillotine

vi.

Plate

you are my moon butter

glazed crumb speckle

my marmalade tang

vii.

Lamp

burn bright as fire

keep the night light

lighten my steps

lighten my words

before I put my foot in it

viii.

Owl

swivel-head chumpy friend   everyone knows you are a hoot

ix.

Rooster

in T’ai Chi you are golden

standing on one leg

still not a single egg

all the hard labour by

those chuckling women

x.

NEST

cosy nook for a worm   chick beak   wide waiting