Beneath the florescent thrum of conversation
beneath every sole, heel, and rounded boot
beneath pivotal hearts
you, golden summer
floral buffer
woolen garden, lie
patterned between chair and couch
the tread of your petals
almost sweet
I pass over you
our weekly dance
an awkward shuffle
my feet a jumble of
politeness
above you
the story of my life
dredged of all metaphor
begins again
rooted to the floor,
the room, the hour
you listen
radial, calm, captive
words
cinching round and round
catch, unravel, tangle
above you
faces open and close
like bridges
and you,
floral buffer
woolen garden
knotted in pastels
narrate the silences that fall in-between
shifting and tidal
the telling, sloping
the heart hanging lower
Nicole Zuckerman: I am an ESL teacher in Pennsylvania always looking for new ways to challenge students to view language as a unique form of self expression. I am an avid collector of poetry, as well as aspiring to be a poet worthy of those whom I collect. I love flea markets and auctions and I seek out ephemera because I see beauty in that which defines our daily lives.