Linda King
musical interlude
that place between
normal and that far away window
where the petty thieves
will serve you
tea and sympathy
tonight the moon
is an open bracket
everything else locked
in the curio cabinet
time
and the wounds
it makes
out of time
out of cash
out of luck
out of touch
out of bounds
leave
question number six
blank
examine your repertoire
of simple things
here you are charged by the hour
for clarity of thought
while the dust swirls
into summer stories
invisible
like a new moon
or your hopes
that reside
in those pots and jars
on the vanity
all your tiny ambitions
down to Mozart
making the long day pass
displaced water
breathe in the magical elements
in the hour before
linger and light
the garden
is all green dreams slender limbs
the tulips on fire
and the bees
keep buzzing a message
like monks slow chanting
in small print
or the soft scent
of the early blooming lilac
here no one searches the small vessels
and you cannot row fast enough
to reach the other shore
here you have learned
to ask for what you want
and to collect your losses
like spilled wine
that place between
normal and that far away window
where the petty thieves
will serve you
tea and sympathy
tonight the moon
is an open bracket
everything else locked
in the curio cabinet
time
and the wounds
it makes
out of time
out of cash
out of luck
out of touch
out of bounds
leave
question number six
blank
examine your repertoire
of simple things
here you are charged by the hour
for clarity of thought
while the dust swirls
into summer stories
invisible
like a new moon
or your hopes
that reside
in those pots and jars
on the vanity
all your tiny ambitions
down to Mozart
making the long day pass
displaced water
breathe in the magical elements
in the hour before
linger and light
the garden
is all green dreams slender limbs
the tulips on fire
and the bees
keep buzzing a message
like monks slow chanting
in small print
or the soft scent
of the early blooming lilac
here no one searches the small vessels
and you cannot row fast enough
to reach the other shore
here you have learned
to ask for what you want
and to collect your losses
like spilled wine
© Copyright Linda King 2019
Linda King has published four collections of poetry. Her most recent collection – antibodies in the alphabet – is forthcoming from BlazeVOX Books. Her work has been published in numerous literary journals in Canada and internationally. She lives and writes on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada.