Magpie by emuse

[cameron]

Magpie

One for sorrow, two for joy,
three for a girl, four for a boy,
five for silver, six for gold,
seven for a secret never to be told.

Mark this: The worry of the morning. My room
with a sorrow in it. Collecting myself in a London flat.
Wooden shutters filter the day. Pink blossoms
tender on the Crape Myrtle. This is my space, perched
on a branch like a magpie’s lament. Elderberry wine
in an iron chair. Chartreuse of the residential gardens.
Henley House, the way she holds her jaw and the edge
of Dover. White chalk smears at the boundaries. We read
poems until our eyes are full.

Plum tart overlooking the Thames. Steel green water.
Tower Bridge and my tidal wave. Her cheesecake and my fruit.
Photos of stone chimes and Big Ben; a clock to show me
what time was. Told her all the secrets. Worried I would lose her
in the big hour. In her palm, a patch of lavender
the gypsy sold her. Willing she sees me as the word
I was, blue of an iris, two for joy.