Tender

what courage & trust to launch our
bodies upside down
hands planted    legs kicking swift
floating up    reaching stillness
the flows of our lymph reversed
blood pouring into the head
i seek it over & over
a moment of quiet as my ears
fill with my pulse the fullness
of my heart blanketing the
chatter of the mind    completely
briefly

how can tears move first against
gravity    welling up & up
before spilling over the edge of
surface tension    of propriety
of our fight to hold them back
to keep the scales of daily life
in place    obscuring the prospect
of seeing of being seen
i let them out early with you
no guise    no stop on my candor
so many tender places
at the surface the silent scream    a memory of
keening    unfolding    opening
as i watch bamboo shadows
redraw your face in each moment

© Erika Stanley 8.22.13