[Glenn Wright]

Aubade

The meddlesome sun patrols the forest trail,
peeking in corners, rousting nestled lovers,
provoking flocks of birds to fill the dale
with flashing wings; a jeweled hummingbird hovers
over our bodies, entwined on mossy covers.

I wake before her, free my tangled limbs,
and slip away into the deeper gloom,
waiting for her to rise to skylark hymns,
to feel the dewy chill, smell the perfume
of evergreen and sweet wild rose’s bloom.

I watch her blink into the glaring east,
Stand up, and brush leaf litter from her dress.
A creature of the day, light is her feast.
I know that she’s forgotten my caress,
or, wanting me, she never would confess.

Summoned to her world, so full of weeping,
blighted by sin, cursed with pain and labors,
she looks around her, careful to be keeping
A downcast air, fleeing the woodland’s flavors
for the bitter taste of clocks and chores and neighbors.