ASCEND INTO BLUE by Carol Graser

Each moment has its demands

tells me I am not a forest.

but I am

I am a garrulous bunch of trees

Every jangle of hand

every downpour of speech

knocks me clean out of heaven

I climb over igneous rock

the cooled volcanic spew

Let me drink from a lavender glass

each night an opulent gulp

Let me rest, shelter my bones

tie my dreams to a sturdy post

Your name and mine I zealously whisper

and whisper until all of the words have gone