Noel Conneely

SUNRED

I have seen you at sunset
barefoot on the sand
as the ferry came in
your lips drawn back
pain in your teeth
like a coin
brown eyes lovely with loss
your heart full of war
the ferryman’s wife
young as a daughter
her eyes the perfect lyric
for a melody to wreck on
I have seen you at low tide
walking out to the ferry
the slander of guns
loud as your heart
your footprints lost
in the coming wave

—from Rattle #20, Winter 2003