Poetry by Barbara Daniels
this poem is not monitored it will not
respond to you this poem is busy
touching its toes running looking at
new leaves on maples and finding out
which camelias are blooming don’t
expect this poem to talk into your ear
whispering lies whispering secrets
it knows what happened in high school
but it’s not telling it wants the blue truth
of sky in the morning and rustling
shadows when night closes in
this poem is learning how to spot planets
Jupiter Venus they’re out there they’re
known this poem diagrams sentences
circles prepositions repositions epithets
snuggles with adjectives this poem
discovers panicled asters green sea glass
cut flesh of oranges bright passage
of cherry trees blossoming pink moon
sun on its glide path it won’t
tell you what you want to know
because this poem is watching the sky
introducing glitter to jump ropes
doors to blue mirrors lost names
to lost rituals remember the ritual
of falling asleep you used to do that
breathe sincerely and just let go
Barbara Daniels’s Talk to the Lioness was published by Casa de Cinco Hermanas Press in 2020. Her poetry has appeared in Lake Effect, Cleaver, Faultline, Small Orange, Meridian, and elsewhere. Barbara Daniels received a 2020 fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
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