The Room

Copyright 2009
Judith J. Bentley

for Kate
with gratitude to Denise Levertov

What holds us upright
after we have swept the ashes
from last night's fire
and faced sudden, immeasurable darkness?

We lie down in our sorrow
in the room where our dreams
moved us to dance together
and spread our arms to make a cross.

After a while, we rise again
and creep away from the room
we shed like a snakeskin
until we find our feet...

Walking in our own province.
We let be what is gone.
It is enough to be so much here
with the fireflies and the moonlight.