Bee Darling
by Shannon Hilson
Liquid yellow world
Wrapped around Bee Darling
Under the light
Of the moon at noon
Reverie balanced like a dancer
Atop a block from the ice house.
Bee Darling, you are sweet.
Red paper lanterns
Honey light
Lemon lover
Aura bright.
Cottage in the North
Built around Bee Darling
Dampness of moss
Fills the path of the wagon.
Silence is the song of the year
And the swollen moon that governs here.
Bee Darling, you are chronic.
Dizzy dulcet
Raven hair
Pennyroyal
Honey pear.
Dandy Lion heart
Beating for Bee Darling
Butter yellow confusion
Daffodil laughter sweet and sharp
Riddles, feathers, ap
Glass Prayer
by Shannon Hilson
I prayed for courage
So that I could count to ten
And so that lions would recognize me
As one of their own.
For this cloak
Earned little by little
And stitch by stitch
But earned just the same.
For beauty.
For truthful reflections
That compare me
To queens and seekers.
For roses
For thorns.
Do the two not
Grow side by side?
For transformation.
For fire.
For wind.
And always for seasons.
For wisdom
For knowing glass is born of strength
And that a heart made of such
Is a treasure indeed.
I prayed to put her
In the ground where she belongs.
To sing her to sleep
In her bed beneath the ho
Apollo's Sheep
by Shannon Hilson
Amorphous and strange
Are these wishes we have
Like the sheep
That follow Apollo's lead
Like the secret jewels
Hidden under their wool
And the crystalline kisses
That appeared on my window
While I slept softly in fractions
And dreamed of him in days.
Impossible and fragrant
Are these wishes we have
Like the light that escaped
From the bedroom of Zeus
When distracted he left the door ajar
Completely unaware
He had just shown me Heaven
And now I know
What color skirt she wears
And how she dresses her hair for bed.
Mercurial and rare
Are these wishes we have
Like the snow on the beach
Tha
Ink
by Shannon Hilson
Becoming is like taking up
A crystal goblet full of purple ink
The stuff that begets hatters and rabbits
And curious oysters with bad endings in their cards
And drinking it down
Taking in all those not-yet thoughts
Those embryonic fantasies
Those epiphanies still wrapped in their silvers
And making them yours
Just yours
Just yours in their brilliance
In their ever-changing solace
And using them to change your stars.
The Lily Coat
by Shannon Hilson
Your regard is the white
Of my lily coat,
The white of Helen's marble vase,
The soft of Luna's palest truth.
Your regard is the creeper
That binds my feet in roses,
That ties me close to Mother's heart,
That keeps me sane in Father's glass.
Your regard is the hour
Of tea time in the pagoda,
The hour only we have lived.
The hour not of human birth.
Cool and safe in the pale of sleep,
Calm and wise under Brahma's gaze,
I ponder the moon in my lily coat
And bask in your regard.
Lucy Fell
by Shannon Hilson
Lucy got caught in the rain.
She tripped on her silence.
She scraped her knee.
They stole her sparkle
In the place between
Realms of vanilla and cinnamon
Where the moon blinks and watches
Like a celestial eyeball.
Lucy Delight
She is growing transparent and thin.
I can still see her spark
Her gleam in dim silhouette
But only underneath the ivy
That twisted itself round her wrists
While she was sleeping in the meadow.
Lucy Vagabond
She lost her lamp.
She has forgotten resplendent.
She has forgotten to seek dulcet.
When she falls, she will prowl.
She will crawl in shades of orange.
She will hav
The Valium Bath
by Shannon Hilson
Fixed under water glass
Like a splinter beneath Poseidon's skin
There is no Sunday
And no one knows Rhyme
With her cool hands
And her goat's feet.
There are only
Walking dead
From whose wool-lined mouths
Pour blindfolds
And broken keys
Strangle holds
And bloody knees.
Rapunzel bruised
Left for dead forgotten
Bound and gagged
By her own golden hair.
Drowning in the Valium Bath
Warm and blind
Dying slow
But unaware.
Breathe
by Shannon Hilson
This dance feels resurrected
Right down to the cherry stains on your sleeve
And the tapestries that look like iron will
But are really shadows cleverly woven to imply it.
I can not see here
The lights are too low
But sometimes things are better seen
When lit by the lanterns of the mind instead.
They look brighter
Redder
Closer to real
Than real could ever be.
We were here once before
A thousand years ago give or take a century.
I spoke with a carnelian tongue
You tasted like pomegranate seeds.
Going back there again
Carrying that same tune
Becoming crimson
Becoming other
Breathe
I lost my breat
Neptune's Concubine
by Shannon Hilson
Last night
The heavens caught fire.
Each planet and star
Was seduced by the treacherous Earth
And each in turn died in flame
Attempting to possess her.
From this destruction
Neptune alone was spared.
And he smothered us all
With an oblivion cape
All tied up in tide
And hung with mermaids.
Last night
I slept on a tall, sugary cake
That was being blown
This way and that
By the twentieth wind.
And I dreamed.
I dreamed
Of being rocked to sleep
By divine arms that smelled of rain.
And I dreamed
Of falling to the ground
And becoming the ocean's disciple.
Last night
I died and it felt
The Thirteenth Hour
by Shannon Hilson
It is not something
That can be tied
Pulled to you with a rope.
Nor laced and bound
To feel its own every breath.
You can not lay it on crust
And taste it like lemon epiphany.
You can not steer it
By turning the wheel this way and that.
Nor can you feel it
By running your hand
Along the wallpaper's edge
In the middle of the night.
It is made up of tinsel particles
That only appear after the thirteenth hour.
A nicotine fit
A sour apple dream
An oblivion kit
A kiwi ermine scream
A cutlass blade
A bottomless well
A peacock shade
A pathos bell
It is all and nothing.
It is both then a