There's beauty and time
by Hilary Sallick
in August the whole world
through these windows
draped by mulberry blessed
by spruce ;
the red cardinal was here
minutes ago on the deck rail
eating a seed
and the cloth on the table
where I sit is printed with
shapes of leaf and flower
and is fresh-smooth
for I washed it
last night ; and the fine
and delicate gestures of
chrysanthemum given me
by Lisa for my birthday
are here ; and the light outside
is made of white splotches
under the moving shadows ;
do you see how my mind
is flooded — so I will go
to fill the green
pitcher with water
and carry it to the birdbath
which is dry and dusty ;
I’ll pluck out the leaf I see
flattened at the center and with a rough
cloth I’ll brush
the surface clean then pour the water
into the bowl thick and thin
dark and bright beside
the spruce ;
I see the pair of cardinals now
and I hear them busy
in some small quarrel together
on the branch and he just flew off
when she wings flapping
jumped at him
but they are both still near ;
after pouring the water
I’ll come back in
and go upstairs with vinegar
and sponge having opened
a drawer and discovered
two days ago the morning
of my birthday one fine wool shawl
left tattered by larval hunger ;
and there’s an email I began
not an easy one I must return to it
press send ; do you see what I am
given drawers and doors
and birds sunlight and petals
also music water moths ;
and evening is coming aurora
borealis Perseid meteors I’ll be missing
their beauty ; the air
will breathe through the screen
where I’ll sleep and dream
of August the sadness of August
the luxury of August
the luxury of love
in August of being born
in this month sixty-one years and two
days ago —
listen
someone’s calling me
Hilary Sallick is the author of Love is a Shore (Lily Poetry Books, 2023), long-listed for the Massachusetts Book Award; and Asking the Form (Cervena Barva Press, 2020). Her poems appear or are forthcoming in The Inflectionist Review; Pensive; January House; SoFloPoJo; and elsewhere. A teacher with a longtime focus on adult literacy, she lives in Somerville, MA.
