Stay close to any sounds that
make you glad to be alive. Hafiz
through the morning
still silenced by darkness
your sudden eruption
allegro
arpeggio
appoggiatura
joyful enough
to resurrect icarus
to enjoin him nidicolous
to soar forth once again
airborne on wingéd rhapsody
oh songbird
you remind us
that we can never fly
too close to the sun
and i too rise
fledged by your warbling
which welcomes me
with ebullient
unambivalent simile
as if i were the dawn
for Isabel Davis Neese
My name is Aletha Irby and I have been writing poetry for over fifty years. My personal library includes books of poetry, mysteries, ghost stories, novels, and histories. My work has been published in Main Street Rag, Lady Blue Literary Arts Journal, VOLT, Shot Glass Journal, Palo Alto Review, Tiny Lights Online, and many other journals. I am very grateful to have been granted this time, on this planet, to spend with the English language.