The shock of this
creature woman
lying still – not asleep
her middle portion rises and falls
her soft breath steady
The reclining form
like a great cat
at a zoo
or the couch
of a sculptor’s studio
Gentle flickers
of movement – avidly
I ponder mouth open
what will she do
next?
My God she is
moving her arm
in a broad arc
in a broad arc she sweeps
like a firm slow scythe
She reaps – what?
Molecules of air
my fascinated eyes follow
to her new point of rest
where she spreads into adjacent space
Manoeuvring like an oyster
on a table breathing with the
quickened waves of warm delight
her lips open
in the pink blush of twilight.
Meet the Poet!
Clive Donovan is the author of two poetry collections, The Taste of Glass [Cinnamon Press] and Wound Up With Love [Lapwing] and is published in a wide variety of magazines including Acumen, Agenda, Crannog, Fragmented Voices, Prole, Sentinel and Stand. He lives in Totnes, Devon, UK. He is a Pushcart and Forward Prize nominee for 2022’s best individual poems.
