By: Lee Landau
[ the poet consoles herself]
All night I wept
tears searing my face—
not the body,
not sleep interfered.
“Not the dog licking my mouth,”
nothing stopped me. Nothing
could stop me.
And still I cried, coughed up
a wild heartache. Lush screams
hollowed out the day
All the next night my cries deafened
ears. Screams burned through layers of oxygen;
my eyes never stilled, never rested.
I wept
saddled with waves of sadness,
bed my only asylum.
Face crumbled
like the tissues clutched in my hand,
while the clock struck forty-eight hours.
Even in broken
skeins of sleep my eyes
filled with tears—Grief
Part of a spillway
sluicing wounded crystal-cut
eyes
Nothing could stop me
sadness defined
home
Lee Landau based in sunny florida uses the precision of words to convey the substance of imagery that drives her poetry. She deals with human issues. Lee is currently working on a book length manuscript of her poetry. She has been a finalist in four poetry contests. Workshops with Tom Lux, Sharon Olds, Jude Nutter, Dana Weir and Billy Collins influence her work.