Set Aside the Necklace by John Swain

You knot your hands
before the canvas
like a fire rose,
twilight pigments the trees
beneath the sky,
you hold a starfruit
above a vase of carnations,
the sea crashes lavender,
you pour a ewer of water
into the stone basin
and glance
into a jewelry box,
the surface blurs emerald,
you set aside the necklace,
the crescent of your breast
opens at the robe,
we know the long parting
of our solitude remains.

John Swain lives in Le Perreux-sur-Marne, France. His most recent chapbook, The Daymark, was published by Origami Poems Project.