Ode to Sappho, You & I

I will go on and
Continue
When you move on

In the moon painting oceans white
memories of you filter in

Daffodils, anemone, irises
Rhododendron, crocus, coleus,

When the plankton carry the red tide
On their green backs
And spread glowing turquoise embers
Across the black and silent ocean
Colors of memories of labors brush the heavy sky

Petunia, phlox, lantana
Toad lilies, beards tongue, fuscia

Tables with three empty seats
One setting and accoutrements
Lonely and alone I eat
The sun blinds glasses open
Yet memories kindle agreements
With splashes of more of shared digging

Peruvian lilies, heliopsis, campanula
Helianthus, hibiscus, Echinacea

The moon rides the tail of the sun
Here comes the salt of the work
It drips into my vision
Muses play harps in Lydian
Thoughts the chest does jerk
And here you follow the moon
Lyre constellation
In my dark night sky of unfolding

Monarda, marguerite, Montana
Chrysanthemum, pin cushion, lobelia

And as I turn, there is no image
There is no you
And what we were flowers again

A garden

Without a copse
Without a song
Without movement

No stag
No hunter
No forest