Island Morning
how much would I like to duck inside
the stillness
step inside the floating space between
silence and sound, wind and windblown,
this startling emptiness that greets me when
i open the door
where do i find that back street house
soft with clapboards etched in mildew
taste the room of faded sunlight and mirrored walls,
where a woman with flowing skirt and hoop
earrings stands arms raised to guide me thru the
dance steps
when can i crawl under the braided
rope, the guard distracted,
recline on the frayed upholstered chair,
my feet on the antique coffee table,
where the illustrious, now past, saw to
their own comforts
how much would I like to enter the
early day brightness with
the wide-eyed child I now carry
in my arms, a rooted one,
who lives well without past
and future and whose
lovely face reflects only
the mood of birds as
they fly from sky to tree,
who could rest forever here between
waking and sleep, birth
and death
John Eisner, a builder, raised two children, with his wife Maureen, on the Island in the 1980s. Recently returned from 3 1/2 years in Mexico, he now lives year-round in Chilmark, in a just-completed new home.
The Martha’s Vineyard Times welcomes contributions to Poet’s Corner. Dan Waters, former poet laureate of West Tisbury, will select poems to be published here. Submissions should be directed to dan@indianhillpress.com.