Unmistakably Yours

A poem by Leah Shelleda

As bright as day calls
night still whispers
from the moment we wake

sometime late in the morning
night delivers a brief dream-piece
in the shape of a vivid stranger
by the time you notice it is already noon
in the absence of shadow the world is sharp
and absolutely still you can’t bring
back the shape not even the angle
of his body

or was it a woman
was it upright were those horns
did it walk on all fours
was it en danger ed

later something old something younger than dawn
someone with the exact same number of years
will come to you with its arms open
while you are in your study

in the garden driving to market
and you will not stop typing
or put down your tools or pull over
so it leaves

but it will return
along with the moon or when there is no moon
maybe it will try on your black pearls
or borrow your handwoven skirt
maybe you will finally recognize its face

which is
unmistakably
yours