The Yearning

As we lie down to sleep the world turns half away

–Elizabeth Bishop

 

I question whether it’s past time

to pierce my ears, dangle silver hoops,

feathers, add a small tattoo of a wine-

colored bird at the curve of my clavicle,

slip on a pair of stilettos, something low-cut.

All those years beauty wasn’t supposed

to matter. Now it does. I want what

I would have wanted then— a dress

on fire, love beneath the northern lights,

a river of curls no man could ever swim.

Hari B Khalsa

Hari B Khalsa’s poems have been published, or are forthcoming, in numerous journals including the following: Nimrod, Western Humanities Review, Poet Lore, The Closed Eye Open and The New York Quarterly. She is the author of a chapbook, Life in Two Parts and a book of poems, Talk of Snow. Her award-winning chapbook, She Speaks to the Birds at Night While They Sleep, published by Tebot Bach, was released summer, 2021. Her website is at haribpoet.com.

Contributions by Hari B Khalsa