Poets Corner: Island Morning

0

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.