Song

My heart, my dove, my snail, my sail, my   

    milktooth, shadow, sparrow, fingernail,   

         flower-cat and blossom-hedge, mandrake

root now put to bed, moonshell, sea-swell,   

    manatee, emerald shining back at me,   

         nutmeg, quince, tea leaf and bone, zither,

cymbal, xylophone; paper, scissors, then

    there’s stone—Who doesn’t come through the door   

         to get home?

Cynthia Zarin