LIGHT AND COLOR
Ten Poems by Neeli Cherkovski

the needle in my lover's mouth
pigeons on his breast
trees growing from his dreams
windows sprouting on his stomach
all the natural world
full-blown and abundant
he speaks love with silence
fashions me from clay
takes my eyes to make diamonds
he stores in his brain

someday he will piece the world
out of me and throw wind
on dark dust and even
familiarize my heart with leaves
being far from the unspeakable

man of twilight
and the floating world

May, 1983