LAURIE HELLER

WILLOWWARE

Angry voices,

shifting myself

from body

into mind

I stare

at my plate

and

follow

my vision

down

to the blue world of willows

Melting through

transparent glaze

to wander amongst the willows

in this cool bright world

Blue wind through blue willows

White wind over blue water,

phthalo blue lines

forming lattices

cut the light

into dazzling white diamonds

The blue birds

hovering in the silent white sky

forever frozen in their love flight

Stay in the center of the plate,

don’t travel over the blue bridge

you might fall off the edge

into the white waters

But you go anyway,

your mind knows no bounds

and the water

under the arches

flows

simple, clean, transparent

Go ahead,

you can swim,

it is so clean and cool

Feel the whiteness of water as you

swim through the arches,

you can breathe the water

it’s the same as the air

You are too large

to climb the tree

but small enough to lean

against the gate

Just don’t walk

over the bridge

And the blue birds,

forever caught in that

moment before the kiss

will be your parents

And the water

under the arches

will buoy you

for decades to come