Grace

Your face,
beside her translucent
"I am not a baby" face,
inclines as you listen. Intently
she tells the story
of the banner,

tricks of secret signatures
and hidden magic quills.
Confides, with a freckle of a frown,
she doesn't know
who wrote in pen & ink
across the top
Happy Birthday,
or who drew
the delicate eyes
that gaze up from the tissue.

Engrossed,
you offer her a place
to rest her fingertips,
on the perch
of your long fingers.
She, a lady accepting a dance.
You, a man
on whom wild birds alight.

The Truth of Roses

Remains of the rose
that was red
pose nude.
Hip clings to stem,
stem to branch.
Cold at night, wind flutters
the leaves of lace.

Fog rolls from the great sea
into the laps of coastal hills,
blows dense then loose
past fences, street signs,
lamp posts into my back yard.

Coy cushion of cloud
slips into the garden,
tucks across thorns,
spares the eyes
that peer from indoors
the truth of roses
and what they endure.

Summer Solstice

Suite of seven days, each shorter
than the last. For a week

every time the earth revolves
the heart grows hope
and opens.

Ribbons tied in bows
at Beltaine loosen into loops
of green and crimson.

Braids relax. Flaxen hair
hangs jumbled. Buttons slip
through button holes.
Aprons fall away.

Cotton dresses swing
and flutter, cover
then expose the ankles,
calves and knees.

The sun begins to set
at last. The hat
comes off, falls

from the hand
as long light turns in grace
to face its own
undoing.

Aborigine

She painted forty-two circles,
each enclosing a dot,
in a loop around her ankle,
as in the dream.

Peering closely, she imagined
forty-two tiny rings of dancers
and in the center of each
a sacred flame.

How to Write a Love Poem in Seven Lines

Line 1. Describe beloved's eyes.
Line 2. Insert a metaphor with violets.
Line 3. Refer to dusk or night.
Line 4. Speak of mollusks.
Line 5. Allude to Shakespeare or Browning.
Line 6. Conjure the scent of beloved's skin.
Line 7. Tear up the page and try again.

Biography

Kate Bertrand lives in San Francisco, California, where she writes nonfiction and poetry, dances samba, and facilitates dream groups. She holds an M.A. in English: Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Her poems have appeared in many U.S. publications, including The Hiram Poetry Review, Oakland Review, Blue Unicorn and Plains Poetry Journal.