lamplit

writing by lamplight's
soft womanly glow,
shadows arc to secret corners
where white chrysanthemums whisper
and a skyblue paper fan unfolds,
above a single silken peony,
its carmine petals reflected
in the baroque and gilded mirror.

a distant shutter opens
to the beckoning clamour of sunday bells
and the wheeling gulls are laughing,
suspended between sky and sea.


coffee in a pearly seagreen mug,
cats, like lovers, between my legs,
words drift across the  page like clouds,
an inky memory,
a breathy silence,
a ticking clock.