On the Marble by John Swain

We lay our palms
on the marble

behind the candle
illuminating the moon stairs,
incense smoke
gates the door
like aloes seal
the sheer nightgown to your body,
we pour oil
from a horn
onto lowering torches,
the night follows
the stone hallway
like a luna moth,
you whiten the rain
on our graveclothes,
and we rise as the chandelier fires
become a unified flame.

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

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.

The Turquoise Roof by John Swain

You open the turquoise roof

to climb a high sycamore,
the sky lights behind the rain sky,
the distance appears like painted glass.
The arms of the river
encircle the spiraling mountain,
you lift the temple city
of our first birth in the true king.
I gauze my eyes with linen,
we dip our hems in the water round,
we wash in the ointment of ashes,
we wash in the purified air.

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