Toujours
A second skin inside my skin
still touches you, holds
the lost language of your tongue,
still utters jewels of love.
Light remembers everything--
the newly ripened sunrise
we saw through stained glass,
round, golden glow of street lamps
above us while we walked
hour after hour, our hands
brushing in flight…
I envision the gray clouds
that drifted in your brown eyes
when you spoke of the war,
your capture and torture by Nazis,
how they seared both corneas,
crucified your spirit.
I hear the breathy embrace
of baritone endearments,
Bonjour, ma petite,
see how you pressed your index fingers
together in the shape of a steeple
when you listened to Concerto D’Aranquez,
your craggy face transformed
into rapture I’d never seen before.
My fingertips remember the valley
that dipped at your clavicle,
fresh scent of your white shirt,
three buttons undone so I could rest
my cheek on your chest,
feel your weathered skin,
listen to your heart, a fist
beating against our inevitable
adieu.
Kate Aver Avraham thinks she began writing poetry in utero. She has been doing so ever since and has been published in many journals, anthologies and chapbooks. She has published three children's books: Joey’s Way (MacMillan); What Will You Be, Sara Mee (Charlesbridge, Boston); We Are All Related (Kindle Direct Publishing/Amazon). She co-edited the new anthology Second Wind: Words & Art of Hope & Resilience. Blue Light Press will publish her poetry book, Arms of my Longing, in 2021. Kate is the founder of Blue Moon Creations, an artistic endeavor benefitting causes/charities both locally and globally. She lives at the edge of the redwood forest in Aptos, CA.
A second skin inside my skin
still touches you, holds
the lost language of your tongue,
still utters jewels of love.
Light remembers everything--
the newly ripened sunrise
we saw through stained glass,
round, golden glow of street lamps
above us while we walked
hour after hour, our hands
brushing in flight…
I envision the gray clouds
that drifted in your brown eyes
when you spoke of the war,
your capture and torture by Nazis,
how they seared both corneas,
crucified your spirit.
I hear the breathy embrace
of baritone endearments,
Bonjour, ma petite,
see how you pressed your index fingers
together in the shape of a steeple
when you listened to Concerto D’Aranquez,
your craggy face transformed
into rapture I’d never seen before.
My fingertips remember the valley
that dipped at your clavicle,
fresh scent of your white shirt,
three buttons undone so I could rest
my cheek on your chest,
feel your weathered skin,
listen to your heart, a fist
beating against our inevitable
adieu.
Kate Aver Avraham thinks she began writing poetry in utero. She has been doing so ever since and has been published in many journals, anthologies and chapbooks. She has published three children's books: Joey’s Way (MacMillan); What Will You Be, Sara Mee (Charlesbridge, Boston); We Are All Related (Kindle Direct Publishing/Amazon). She co-edited the new anthology Second Wind: Words & Art of Hope & Resilience. Blue Light Press will publish her poetry book, Arms of my Longing, in 2021. Kate is the founder of Blue Moon Creations, an artistic endeavor benefitting causes/charities both locally and globally. She lives at the edge of the redwood forest in Aptos, CA.
