At midnight, he can’t see
the white picket fence
or the tomato stalks, shriveled,
in the garden, though
he knows the patio,
strewn with willow leaves,
plumes of tall grasses,
upright and still;
and, as he peers into the yard,
he senses a moment
wicking into flame—
walking up an arroyo,
they gaze back
across the Pojoaque valley,
spot the glinting tin roofs,
cottonwoods leafing
along the curves of the river—
a green tide
surges in their arteries
as well as the trees;
tonight, spring infuses fall,
and memory’s wick
draws the liquefied
wax of experience up into flame.
ARTHUR SZE is a poet, translator, and editor. His eleventh book of poetry is The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 2021). Read More
Arthur Sze’s poem “Midnight Flame” is reprinted by permission of the author.