Venus

The curves of many women
after all these years have become
those of only one woman.
That might be perhaps why
there is something about you so succint
but also as a woman so abundant.
Outside our window
through a tangle of branches and stars and hills
I have heard in the night
two birds calling out to each other.
In dream it is easy
to mistake an offshore island
for the silver back of a dark fish flashing
but your name is clear.
Before dawn one strawberry star on a hill
two moons that call out to each other
moth shadows
dreams
whispers
a woman I awake with.


Bob Orr