Night’s Good Pupil

~ Lynne Burnett
Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

Variable, the pastures hooved by lives
in full gallop, unbridled by time:
beneath the immutable drift of the sun
move the rounded and risen,
the angled and gleaming, the limbs,
wings, fins sweating with use.
Unstoppably given to their one life.

As the light gives unstoppably—
teacupped in petals, glowing
in a green persuasion of leaves,
slipping through salt-licked grains
of sand, lifted high on a spread
wing, in the flash and splash
of a salmon’s fin, between a deer’s
leap and a dog’s outstretched paw.

And this, the monopoly of earth’s
home star: a bright creeping
into the rooms behind closed doors.
This is night’s good pupil, daily bent
over the riveting texts of our world,
whose gaze, upon turning
a sudden last page, stays warm
on the straightening back of a man,
warm on his unstoppable hands.

Another poem from my chapbook “Irresistible”, forthcoming from Finishing Line Press this spring. Copies still available to purchase: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/irresistible-by-lynne-burnett/

 

9 thoughts on “Night’s Good Pupil”

    1. Thanks, Ken! And I’m looking forward to holding it in my hands! I was told only that its release was delayed (apparently par for the course these days) and I’d be emailed once it was finished printing. I’m guessing by mid-April but I’ll let everyone know on my site and via email as soon as I hear anything definitive.

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      2. Wonderful to hear! Hah, I still don’t have my copies nor have I been notified of the sendouts. Thanks for keeping me in the loop, Ken!

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