~ Delta Poetry Review ~

When Not the Early Bird

It’s such pleasure to say no

to dictates, to lie sack-like for a bit

in the hammock of early morning.

Let the old play begin late!

I can make these extra minutes

feel like hours and the thought of it

works like hypnosis or hope. I feel

the length of ten years now

like a yardstick. Very few of us

will get close, to say, ten yardsticks. 

And sleep is another form

of eating, of nourishment. Observe

the statue, how still and full it is

from eating in its sleep. I’m ravenous

for a stillness that still breathes. 

So at this moment, I’ll gorge,

my ear tuned to an early bird’s

jubilation—that’s the best excuse

for lying here: for song, to feed

on it, a luscious, creamy treat

I didn’t have to catch.

M. Nasorri Pavone’s poetry has appeared in River Styx, One, b o d y, Sycamore Review, New Letters, The Cortland Review, Rhino, The Citron Review, Innisfree, DMQ Review, Pirene’s Fountain, I-70 Review, One Art, and others. Her work has been anthologized in Beyond the Lyric Moment (Tebot Bach, 2014) and nominated several times for both Best of the Net and a Pushcart Prize.