ON YOUR BIRTHDAY

Patty Pieczka

Your wedding ring on my index finger,
I hold a handful of you,
sift your ashes over yellow wildflowers,
over the lake, among butterfly-angels.

Since you are now the lake’s sparkles,
I am the restless fish jumping
and splashing.

Since you are a wildflower,
I am a hummingbird, thirsty
for one final sip of you.

Since you are forest and hills,
I am the coyote’s howl,
echoing past the horizon.

My hand cramps,
unwilling to let you go.
Again.


Patty Dickson Pieczka's most recent book, Gathering Sunlight, is a collaborative effort with poet Silvia Scheibli. Her third book, Beyond the Moon's White Claw won the David Martinson — Meadowhawk Prize from Red Dragonfly Press. Her second book, Painting the Egret's Echo, won the Library of Poetry Book Award from Bitter Oleander Press. Other books are Lacing Through Time, Word Paintings and a novel, Finding the Raven. Patty lives and writes in Carbondale, Illinois. http://www.pattywrites.net/