Phibby Venable

In Carolina at a dirt cross of roads
I saw the splendor of a star shine and fall -
It was Autumn & a ripeness was pungent
in the dying leaves - the moon large enough
to reveal golden petals of indentations
There was a coolness in the air & a thickening
of night sounds - the owl running
a compulsory call - some lone bird
I had not heard before rolling a long
sound of woe
And you, barefoot & suddenly mysterious -
more than my best friend - suddenly a flower
crumbled and thrown down in faded leaves
Our houses faced each other & the roads ran
four ways, as though we had choices,
as though the traps set by the captured wives
of the Methodist church
would never reach us, but run confused
by the choice of directions
There was a beautiful boy who broke beneath
the iron will of his mother, her disappointment
more important than the open light in your face
There was a denial, and a new knowledge dawning
in the insufferable night - and a baby too small
to hold up a fist -
And you, beautiful meteor of the bright, dulled
with realization - crumbled with a sharp stick
and the smell of death -
No longer worried about the plans we kept
hidden in the red diary beneath the iron bed -
White - a broken laurel, an ivory face -
searching the stars in an endless stare