THE NECKLACE

take,from my palms,for joy for ease,

a little honey, a little sun,

that we may obey Persephone's bees.

you can' untie a boat unmoored.

Fur-shod shadows can't be heard,

nor terror, in this life mastered.

Love, what's left for us, and of us,is this

living remnant, loving remnant, brief kiss

like a bee flying completed dying hiveless

to find in the forest's heart a home,

night's never ending hum,

thriving on meadowsweet, mint, and time.

Take, for all that is good, for all that is gone,

that it may lie rough and real against your collarbone,

this string of bees ,that once turned honey into sun.





osip mandelstam1891-1938 by christian wiman: stolen air