[(symbol)’s really beautiful. When (symbol)’s standing in the trees]
’s really beautiful. When
’s standing in the trees
and thinks nobody sees whose.
’s like a stag.
Which sounds silly but
is. The way the light shines
on whose. The way it bounces off whose hair
like spray from the sprinkler. And
doesn’t know.
Because
’s looking somewhere else.
Maybe up at a bird? I was standing
and turned back because I heard
whose whistling.
thought I wasn’t listening.
wasn’t thinking of me.
was looking at a bird
who was sitting in the tree
and looking back at whose.
If whose shirt was off
’d
have been dappled golden by the sun
coming through the leaves.
didn’t notice me
watching whose without whose shirt on.
was standing in the forest
and the sun was coming
through the trees and covering whose.
glowed.
I knew
’d be warm if I walked up and
touched whose. And probably not mad.
’s like something in a movie
or like a book we’d read in summer by the pool.
didn’t see me looking
because
was so peaceful
staring at the bird.
*Title should read:
’s really beautiful. When
’s standing in the trees
From Rocket Fantastic (Persea Books, 2017). Copyright © 2017 by Gabrielle Calvocoressi. Used with the permission of Persea Books.