Member Poem

after Amabella

Flip the card of the Lovers in reverse;
tell your fears to clear out the orbs

encircling your head like premonitions.
You have been dreaming of wings

large like candle-cast shadows;
weigh the lift of love from below

where the feet don't touch the ground,
the limp of her extended hand is nemesis,

is expression of bondage – read it upright –
is the look of Judgment, calling the Wheel

of Fortune to appear in the midst of scatter;
array of hope, as variety, as many as cups,

as untamed as a lion at the beckon
of a woman, as the Moon clear as daylight.

Sheath the sword of the Queen,
there is no truth to be told –

truth is a nail in a forest, elusive
and magical – because you've fallen

in love – keep the card downwards
when the Empress lifts her scry;

her throne the cold of a stone
knowing to be wary of Knights.

And then draw the Devil, deliberately;
unshackle the couple, watch him smirk

as they run separate ways. They wrote
their destinies before coming together

in a new life – the past is centuries
of starseeds never waking to purpose.

Now, glance out of your window.
Watch the night alight from vapour trails.

First published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal