Orpheus Fixes Himself a Cup of Tea
James Cummins
It’s not so wise to fall asleep too early;
nerve and one, muscle and tendon, knit
in sleep; the clock of ligament is set
to wake us when the nourishment is barely
at the full: when limb and eye and brain
have walked and drunk and sung their fill below
the moon within; and, sated, rise to go,
as lovers rise to go before the dawn.
It’s not so wise to lie awake alone,
to make, the sound of life becoming stone,
or vanishing. The story’s lived in dream;
and if it wake too soon, is lived again.
Orpheus Fixes... by James Cummins