I put pot after pot of flowers
on the table.
Wherever the gray light hovers
like a wolf devouring itself.
Cyclamens, begonias, daffodils,
roses, whatever is for sale.
Valleys of crushed purple,
white flocks of baby breath,
life overflowing with the wet orange
of peaches.
I emptied my pockets buying them,
children of the sun.
I went to them opening my arms,
bringing them to my house,
until they fade
keeping away the dark,
like candles
going out one by one
inside me.
The book The House of the World has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and is now available on Amazon.