veronica

i was cloth
woven
to catch
your face.

did you see
in me
that shape?

nothing else perhaps
no mirror

could give you

what i could any clearer.
all blinding

white, all gold,
all flowers
teeth-grit with

opening fold,
all spring
pushed out
as if it were summer

not
seasons' betrayal
but
to find
an owner.


i shudder
for a limit
and find
white only

and gold
all-flowering--
a god

that lonely would have
me heal, that

gives nothing away.