Enough Sky
(Commended by The UK Poetry Society)
Not getting enough sky now that
it’s pindrop dusk and Venus
flirts with a slabby moon
Spalls of silver flush livid –
I cannot flank desire
and all this reaching
for what must be, this needing
to cultivate the verge,
always it must be
as lewd as breathing, must be
looking for this and finding that
shadow, you must be
not getting enough light for
jade pockets of faith,
volunteers for tenderness
closeted to compensate
the urge; so still I
saw you kneeling
for poppies that burst
though the sidewalk, urging
tangerine starward,
pausing as we do in
vesper half–light, waiting
for more, knowing
only else, abiding shyly to
be known and not heard, still
ever and not ever
brawling as we do
in trajectory, arcing
for the cobalt edge
Not getting enough mauve, you
there by the view, seeking
gauze to pull away, find
only me watching, warmly
embracing else, when
it is enough sky
just then, enough answering
glances in deep focus
for mortal weather
