You ask what fills the air this moonless night;
barefoot, we move toward the scent.
Moist grass summons childhood
and trees are giants on the path.
An outstretched bough blocks our way,
its hardy leaves frame ivory blooms
radiant floating ghosts
You pull one to your face and muse,
how right to save the attar
until dark.
I touch a blossom. Vanilla mingles with earth and breath,
infusing distant memory.
Nature plies us with such art—
flower, fragrance, texture, time,
endless black that soars to stars
and shrouds the coming dawn.
Affixed by wonder to silence and this night,
we are captives of primeval joy.
Elizabeth Esris taught English in Bucks County for 28 years and urged students to write, revise, and value their voices. Concurrently, she wrote poetry, prose, and the librettos for two operas with Doylestown composer Sergio Cervetti. Her writing has appeared in Schuylkill Valley Journal, River Heron Review and France Revisited.
Poet’s Corner is curated by Bucks County Poet Laureate Emeritus Tom Mallouk and supported by a grant to the Bucks County Herald Foundation made possible by Marv and Dee Ann Woodall.
To submit a poem for consideration, email it to Heraldpoetscorner@gmail.com. If the poem has been previously published, please say where it first appeared.
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