The Sand Hill Review               http://www.sandhillreview.org 2009

Lyrics

for Janis Ian

for Joan Armatrading

for Ferron

There is an edge

your voice

drops over

becoming sand

infinite particles

distinct and indistinguishable

moving beneath me.

Not simply melody or motion,

words or muscle,

but you

sifting down

hourglass or wind

until you are concrete

Only then the words

wrap around

until they open

against skin

moths fluttering dust.

I gasp and

sound seeps in,

a vein pulsing.

Improbable pairings

conclude in places I

never expected to be

or be seen.

Your song set out—

kite or net or

parable,

a mist in the air

I breathe.

Jewelle Gomez