A Sacred Harmony

by Peter Grandbois

Here is the sunrise withering
all we desire with unearned grace

Here is our first mistake throbbing
with intimations of happily ever after

And here, every note fingered
from the familiar absence of far away

Instead of distance slipping, give me
the moon-drawn night
pulling us back to the world

Instead of the present forking
through worlds of probability, give me
memory like mad swarms of bells

The door downstairs is merely a hand
in front of your face, a shadow
of what has always been your own

Beyond the pluck and lift
Beyond the frail color of farewell
Beyond the whorling sum of words

The body listens to itself
Hear it ringing

Peter Grandbois is the author of twelve books, the most recent of which is Everything Has Become Birds (Brighthorse 2020). His poems, stories, and essays have appeared in over one hundred journals. His plays have been nominated for several New York Innovative Theatre Awards and have been performed in St. Louis, Columbus, Los Angeles, and New York. He is poetry editor at Boulevard magazine and teaches at Denison University in Ohio. You can find him at www.petergrandbois.com.