Sheila E. Murphy


Nature

She seemed nice
The server
Took our order
Quietly
We sipped black coffee
Also quietly

Petals of flowers
Fell on the path
We looked at
Where they were
And lived there
For an hour

__________

Impeccable morale
A sleek blue coat
As warm as milk.



Deportment, Application, Courtesy

Here’s a shovel
There’s the mulch
Plant the bulbs
Stay in your lane

__________

She sleeps in
Her tall chair
In front of the TV
With language
Coming out of it
Not quite
Coming out of it.

__________

After bright sunshine
Rain interrupts
The rooftops.



Teleprompt

In the first place
He had nothing
To say
Then said something
Else.

__________

He swiped the shoeshine cloth
From the hotel
And rubbed his head.



Formal Power

Imagine
People having you over
On purpose
Not like this.

__________

Names of the flowers
Missing from the sidewalk.

__________

Here I am
In the middle of incessant rainlight
In love with
The inevitable
Soul between us.

__________

Squint post-sleep
Clear coast
A tapestry
Of facts

I promise
To relax
Into imagination
Campgrounded

Near a river
And the sweet
Divide of blue
And winter sky

Here comes eternity
Designed by us
To multiply
At will until




Sheila E. Murphy lives in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. In 2018, three new publications have emerged: Reporting Live From You Know Where (Meritage Press and xPress(Ed)), As If to Tempt the Diatonic Marvel from the Ivory (Broken Sleep Books), and Underscore (with K.S. Ernst, Luna Bisonte Prods).
 
 
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