David A. Goodrum

Solstice Flowers 

for M.

In the wake      of a night when speech
      became favored      over sleep

            and we curved and crossed
                  like free skaters dance

            touching through the eye and ear
      the mind’s atrium

I bow      to proffer
      abandoned phrases

            simple
                  words

                  no one else wants
            tracings

      spectral and hushed
from the heart’s ornate pavilion

I race to you beneath a frozen sky
            to share them

                  an ice crystal bouquet      
            of frail voicings

      wrapped      in the visible pockets
of breath between us

David A. Goodrum, writer/photographer is the author of Vitals and Other Signs of Life (The Poetry Box, 2024) Recent publications include Tar River Poetry, Gyroscope, San Antonio Review, I-70 Review, Cirque, Banyan Review, Tampa Review, among others. David lives in Corvallis, Oregon. See additional work (poetry and photography) at www.davidgoodrum.com.