Dawn Chorus

by Lee Nash

Through no fault of my own
I begin to heal him,
tenderly smooth his brows,
describe their limits, my power between them.

I close all doors and call my body Safety,
brush soft feathers on his chest.

First the Virgin Bride
then the feisty whore –
soon I cannot tell apart the scent of lust
and love’s sweet perspiration.

His base notes shudder
as I sing the hymn he plays,
the chorus softer now,
as when a bird retreats to the woods.

I begin the old business.
All the time at prayer.

* * * * *

"Dawn Chorus" was first published in Blue Fifth Review (Fall 2018)

Lee Nash lives in France and writes poems, micro-poems and flash fiction. Her work has appeared in diverse journals and anthologies, including Acorn, Ambit, Angle, Magma, Mezzo Cammin, Slice, and The Best Small Fictions 2019. Her first poetry chapbook, Ash Keys, is published by Flutter Press. She was a 2018 Bath Flash Fiction Award prizewinner, a Laureate's Choice prizewinner in the 2019 Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest, and is joint winner of the 2019 Princemere Poetry Prize.