Desire wraps around thin shoulders chilled with light
An envelope of protection warms daylight
Ocean on skin akin to laying on of hands
I shelter in place return to felt familiar poverty
An envelope of protection warms daylight
Between us thought replaces speech
I shelter in place return to felt familiar poverty
Mental models rinse experience with bard song
Between us thought replaces speech
What leeches courage is the everyday brash body hurt
Mental models rinse experience with bard song
Wheat toned hair flickering mid-wind is wheeled away
What leeches courage is the everyday brash body hurt
I skirt responsibility and flirt with depth perception call it learning
Wheat toned hair flickering mid-wind is wheeled away
Her hair shampooed a rinseable shade of blue
I skirt responsibility and flirt with depth perception call it learning
Where perimeter of earth was once believed in
Her hair shampooed a rinseable shade of blue
Personality and tonality go toe to toeprint
Where perimeter of earth was once believed in
Thin line between pleasure and fealty stray give way
Personality and tonality go toe to toeprint
I warm to who I think is you in breathful distance
The line between pleasure and fealty stray give way
My depth of feeling enshrined in cornflower morning
I warm to who I think is you in breathful distance
Existential girth maintains numens of worth
My depth of feeling enshrined in cornflower morning
Ocean on skin akin to laying on of hands
Existential girth maintains numens of worth
Desire wraps around thin shoulders chilled with light
SHEILA E. MURPHY appeared in Fortnightly Review, Poetry, Hanging Loose, others. Forthcoming: Escritoire (Lavender Ink). Permission to Relax (BlazeVOX Books, 2023). Gertrude Stein Poetry Award for Letters to Unfinished J. (Green Integer Press, 2003). Hay(ha)ku Book Prize for Reporting Live From You Know Where (Meritage Press, 2018).