SIEANNEN BELL
All Photography ©2004 LARA ELLIS

Shenandoah River Blues

spinning in the rain
drunk on gin
and cheap bourbon
caught up
in the blessed slow
sleep of drink
and appalachian nights
standing far above
the shenandoah 

watching the river
pull and dance
a slow sparkle
in the heavy night
I am barefoot
and half-breathless
muttering your name
and untangling
my skirts from
brambles and thorns
that hold me back
from flying

I want you
to know how often
I walk these
mountain paths
long after dark
with this strange
but insistent
expectation
of meeting you
somewhere
here in the
deep fog 

I lay down
in the leaves
listening
to the nightbirds
call and cry
I sing my own song:
a low howl
only you can hear
I fall asleep
waiting
for your footsteps

Reciting Poetry in His Sleep  
I am standing
in the tall grass
in earliest morning
with my hand raised
towards innumerable stars
in some wordless prayer
my fingers
tracing your skin
as if you were here
in front of me
desire becoming
a dangerous thing
as my spirit sings
its way
out of my body
towards yours
 
I am standing
in a thicket
of honeysuckle
reaching for you
as I do
in every dream
this is yet
another night
to mourn
the absence
of your breath
of your body
of poetry spoke
in a drunken whisper
from your sleeping lips

Incantation 

I chant your name
repetition becoming prayer
as if my will alone
could invoke your presence
wolf child, wild boy
for how many years
have I called your name
without answer
without reprieve
without knowing your face 

I have tracked you
through a thousand nights
relentless in my desire
inconsolable in my need
I have searched for you
in every dimly lit city dive
in every wide expanse of woods
and I have finally found you out
now I revel in the taunt
and ache of your voice 

I stand in the dark
with one hand
pressed against
leaves and bark
while the other hand
wanders elsewhere
seeking solace in the rhythm
of your words and the way
they beat against my mind
leaving me half-mad
and fully fevered
watching stars
and mountains
whirl endlessly
around me

cursing these miles
between my body
and yours
I throw my head back
and taste rain in my mouth
as I chant your name
and prayer becomes incantation