Woman

Woman

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I am drunk with summer sun.

My petals, open, reach

Into purple night while stars

Settle into a blanket. I sleep

Smelling your sweat on my skin.

I am fruit, ripe, skin bursting.

I paint dripping juice colors,

Write life-lived harvest, play

The full moon low and slow,

Catch tarrying notes in tangled

Hair to store for later.

Winter lingers beyond allotted days

And though I’ve had babies born

And die in winter, I’ve learned

To settle into the quiet

Beneath fallow snow where grass

And flowers make ready to push forth

Erasing the cold with fresh truth.

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