The rising song of you
by Jude Goodwin
The sun comes in like a quiet cat
one paw print on the wall,
one on the piano
it purrs by my slipper
as I write this morning hymn
to you, an anthem
to the way you lift the coffee
to your lips, the way you turn
when I speak.
and when morning
begs at the window
we laugh
the cat and I
all spread on the coverlet
warmed by the rising
song of you.
Founder
by Jude Goodwin
Are you the ocean then?
I ask while you sleep
whisper into the shell of your ear
your breath swells and recedes
my fingers are wet with its mist
I am a small crab, navigating
the warm mounds of your back
I am phosphorescent
tide, glowing along the length
of your dark shore
I am the early cry of a gull
on its nest, where the horizon
spears forever, where bold wind
twists the blue sheets, I am
morning before light, and you
you are the green depths
where all my ships will founder
One Hour
by Jude Goodwin
If all time
or memory of it
were one hour
and if it began
the hour when I first met you
over coffee and eggs
and ended at the moment
you had your arms around me
and spoke into my hair
“We’ll do this again maybe”
and it was a question
a question the rain might ask or the sun
before it tucks the day away
a question with an answer
so inevitable you didn’t need to lift
your voice and there
I’m meeting you again
at the curry place, or on the lake trails
and each time you take my hand
it is the first time and maybe
if all time
were like that
there’d be no time
for goodbye.
ted prior says
Reading Jude’s pleaser all ways changes my day .
Anika says
What a wonderful way to start a Monday morning! Thank you Jude – your insight is remarkable.
Billy Mekiss says
I’ve printed out a hard copy so I can have these with me always.
jeff Berkley says
Hi Jude!
Such lovely poetry… your poems paint such pictures – I can see the scene as I read your words! Beautiful.
Love, Carol Ann