Dressed in Blue

We don’t fear death.
Only lips formed by weight and whisper.

We don’t fear death.
Only weeping willows dancing to a youthful breeze.

We don’t fear death.
Only our tongues, our violence.

We don’t fear death.
Only fading light taut with desire. 

We don’t fear death.
Only dream-visions washed in white.

We don’t fear death.
Only cactus blooms, yellowish pink.

We don’t fear death.
Only murals screaming from quiet streets.

We don’t fear death.
Only the calm before the calm.

We don’t fear death.
Only skin smelling of tv dinners.

We don’t fear death.
Only phrases open and empty.

We don’t fear death.
Only summer moons dressed in blue.

Laine Derr, who currently lives in a landscape – free and quiet, holds an MFA from Northern Arizona University and has published interviews with Carl Phillips, Ross Gay, Ted Kooser, and Robert Pinsky. Recent work appears or is forthcoming from Antithesis, ZYZZYVA, Portland Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere.