Red Tree Review

SEX IN SPRING

so close
i smell them.
i feel the feral smear. the swallow of their essence

as ivy mounts the red erect. as seeds in wind
gissum purple dangling

as pretty faces of the flowers
wink: probe me.

the night before: rain.
the sodden leaves exploding.

nothing lasts:
not this shadow.
not these thoughts like foam on rush of water
though

your perfume lingers
on every wish i remember.

KATHLEEN HELLEN’s debut collection Umberto’s Night won the poetry prize from Washington Writers’ Publishing House. She is the author of The Only Country Was the Color of My Skin, Meet Me at the Bottom, and two chapbooks. Hellen’s awards include prizes from the H.O.W. Journal and Washington Square Review.