Lullaby with Aftereffects

Marielle Prince

What window would be so kind 
as this white wall, where soft focus 

is a down pillow, where no wet eye reflects, 
no dread silhouette on his way, only 

your white glazed clock face blinking? 

The wall will rock if you want it to. If 
there is a shadow, you are tucked in it.

The wall is all you have to admit. It could be 
a cold compress if you let it. What dream 

so safe, when the eye shakes under its covers, 
when your skin becomes a saddle for white noise?

Genre: 
Author Bio: 

Marielle Prince is poetry editor at The Collagist. Her recent and forthcoming publications include work in Crab Orchard ReviewFour Way ReviewIron Horse Literary ReviewNashville Review, Ninth LetterPoetry NorthweststorySouth, and Yemassee. She received an MFA from the University of Virginia and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Issue: 
61