by Eva Skrande
When the hush of the old town moves up the stems
of chrysanthemums,
the petals turn into small fires,
like songs in the throats of nightingales.
The trees bend from sorrow
to joy, despite the great questions of yesterday and tomorrow
sitting near them on an old bench.
The moon, above fields of violets,
falls in love with everything vulnerable, those with no homes,
the elders who can’t remember where they left their shoes,
and the good wind, far from her family of hills.
Nothing is supposed to die this evening.
Not even the small fire in the hearts of the young wheat
saying their gold prayers, on their knees, before going to sleep.
© Eva Skrande
Eva Skrande‘s recently-released third book, The Boat that Brought Sadness into the World, is now available from FInishing Line Press and from online retailers such as Amazon. Her publications also include My Mother’s Cuba (River City Publishing Poetry Series 2010) and Bone Argot (Spuyten Duyvil 2019). Most recently her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Collidescope, SuperPresent, SurVision, Another Chicago Magazine, i-70 Review, Plant Quarterly and elsewhere. She lives in Houston where she tutors for Houston Community College. Skrande, a writing coach, has taught creative writing to people of all ages and is the founder of Write for Success Tutoring.
Find out more on her website evaskrande.wordpress.com or Threads @eskrande, Instagram @eskrande, X/Twitter @eskrande, and Facebook Eva Skrande.
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