For Emma
by LAUREN GABRIELLE-JAYNE
Pick your poison.
Amber, debris of arsenic;
watching eye of wisteria;
intent gaze, an azure royal.
Flitting about, oh, so softly,
quiet, as if fallen from grace.
An eighth wonder, wings torn
paper thrown to waiting wind.
They couldn’t put her back together.
Delicate hues, fiber
linen, fresh-pressed;
lavender entity,
one, forever best.
An eighth wonder.
All of the king’s horses and
all of the king’s men, set about
searching, again and again.
A stallion’s spirit,
not to be caged.
They couldn’t find her.
Like another lyric
in a children’s rhyme;
an eighth wonder,
waking and setting off,
a diamond to bright skies.