In the tallgrass
where all gold starts
wind became
my additional lover.
His hand the inflorescence
one finger partially gone—
Lovegrass/
Panicgrass/
Witchgrass./
**
I carefully researched
how to bait my trap.
Took the small blonde charmer
out of town.
Stealer of cholla,
eater of sun murdered plants.
I knew it would die coming back.
**
Ajo lilies
now up to my waist.
What blackened
the opal knowledge—
What his ghost finger traced.
Copyright © 2017 by Louise Mathias. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on July 18, 2017, by the Academy of American Poets.