Three Poems by Marianne Tefft

by Marianne Tefft

Headland

You need me to be the headland

Around whose firmly planted feet

Your flood waters rise relentless

Without eroding the foundation

Sometimes I want to be the water

To froth and bubble and chortle

Climb chaotic and leap through moonbows

Throwing hilarious kisses

Onto the astonished shore

Many nights and even days

Storm clouds obscure my quiet gestures

You do not see me

As I work my toes in the sand

Flinging armloads of spindrift

Toward the full Moon

Hunger Moon

By silver light I set a table for one

But I do not dine alone

For as I lift a simple spoon

Curvaceous memories of starlight

And cherries flood my throat

Fork and knife salsero y salsera

Touch and savor deeper and deeper

The linen cloth at my waist

Warms me like your breath

Sweet as summer berries

And vanilla cream across my thighs

As the full Moon flowers

My mind burns with your stories

Of divine flames that foretold your gift

On an ancient moonless night

Until our fingertips touch

As they lift the glasses

That rest side by side

I am well nourished

The River is Dead

Tonight the river is dead

No bright words leave its throat

Like sullen ink wells its depths gather silt

As skaters grate across its matte indigo skin

Full Worm Moon beats a relentless tattoo

But the current utters only silence

Lost stars toss no wishful dimes into its reservoir

And none triangulate in its expressionless gaze

On their journey toward tomorrow