she takes a lover

and the man kisses his lady,
watches her drive
from their home to
meet her lover,
the swollen sky a'dusk
is the color of plum

and the garden beds emit
green flavors and the scent
of a lulling fertility;
on the ear
the sounds of
calling crickets

and in his chest
the night breathing
opposes his own;
his lungs pressed upon by
an unexplored thought
while something low stirs

and he sees the taillights
of their car
some way down the road
and he wonders if that
glance in the mirror was to
check her face or his

and the porch light
winks against the dance
of night flyers
oblivious to the white
burn that ends their
black lives

and he walks around
to the back side of their home
to sit on the stoop
that looks down their
long pasture toward
the elm at center

and this is the
business of summer:
a wanting elm
and the coy reveal
of her palms
at the first blush of a breeze

and the coming of
something strong
over a western rise
flowing over and across field
down and through, tousling
that tufted thatch

and he finds his
hands together;
his heart ponders
with his eyes east
overlooking
the laid scene

and there is a vision
of something in the
world turned reverse
that makes the night sky
burn and the earth
cold

and the form before
is something observed
but he wonders
is the image
the thing itself,
or is it not?

and the wind, he
is driven to gain
from his advances
across the field
pulled but pushed
equally so

and the man whose
lady has taken a lover
looks on the scene
with enfolded fists
and his mouth
surely set

and now the breeze
has grown to wind
and finds the elm
with limbs bent to his
will and he
pushes through

and the man
closes his eyes
parts his lips
releases his breath
leaves his mind
opens his soul

and he is
becalmed by
whispers of truth
to the ears
within his
mind

and comes to
know that she moves
the way of the
swallow
from a need
in a mysterious heart

and her return will be
to him and him alone
enriched in some
unspeakable way,
overpoured from
a deeper well

and on seeing her
he'll drink from her cup
a certain
marking remedy:
something as warm
as this night