Folding Away...





Lane chests lined with cedar
are a fine place for linens,
sheets I needled with thread,
patterns that spoke
the few words I did not dare,
and that is where I must place them now.

How many times
did I lie on these,
wrapped in your senses,
steeped in the scent of us,
never hating the morning light
because it meant
another chance at night with you?

My naked came from inside,
opening to you slowly
risking your anger at reticence---
could you ever know
what it cost me
to even reach for your skin?

But know this,
even as I fold the sheets,
sprinkle lavender
and try to breathe us---
No one else will lie as we did,
wrist crossed in sweet light,
smiling in each others eyes,
no one can touch
the honey you made,
no one can make me spill
unexpected delight,
and no one will ever find me
nude in the morning
and half so willing to leap
without thought
of how I might look,
or how I may seem,
or how difficult it would be
to fold the sheets
when we are nothing more
than that look in my eyes
when I smell cedar and herbs
and know it...for you.

by Lisa Shields


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