tender hope wrapped in silk balloons

with a blue-ribbon floret on summit

smells of cedar, musk, and vanilla

mourning life’s emotional buttonsu

singing like heron’s hypnotic dance

your avocado eyes cast like a movie

shield me with ardor sworn eternally

my curls signaling nerves to undress

as virgin notes soften violin strings

within a bed of yellow pollen, I wait

as your gentle caress, I do anticipate

Copyright © 2022 Joni Karen Caggiano

All Rights Reserved

Joni is an internationally known and published poet, photographer and author. You can find more of her work on her blog,https://the-inner-child.com- see her publications page (https://the-inner-child.com/publications) for a list of books, anthologies, magazines and contests. As a surviving ACOA, Joni’s blog is an effort to give back. She is a retired nurse and paralegal with a strong kinship with nature.

instagram:@jonicaggiano

twitter:@theinnerchild1

Featured Image: “Salt Marsh” by Joni Caggiano

Editor: Barbara…