Two New Poems

For M

It's about peace in the body.

The little miracle of how we undo each other as we make love.

And undone, we let go for a sliver of time

the days of disappointment.

Burdens and betrayals knotting nerve and sinew and bone

dissolve in the O of our mouths.

Arms around each other.

Circle of skin.

We breathe together,

simple and clear.

Stillness in your smile, my smile.

Stillness and then laughter.

Prayer

I need to lie on cool, wet ground;

so the earth can sing to me.

If I am small, and still,

the grass will chant its secrets.

I feel hollow and lost.

I need green to fill me, to feed me.

I am sick of the taste of compromise;

of work for money only.

I am empty from worry

and my fear of losing you.

I need the touch of bark,

and the arms of trees.

I need to climb to fruit and flowers,

and trust I will not fall.

My prayer books

are crumbled and dry.

No church will hold me.

I look to ritual,

unadorned and simple.

I ask the Woman who is everywhere,

Heal me.

Lisa Alvarado