Anvil of darkness, the iris

into its luscious throat
    ink purple     dip
in liquid movement

an interior so deep
I nest    its black wing
            blankets            against the chill

curves of endless            ocean floor
rhythm            a            slow
bellow's song

stillness            lost selves

            in horizonless blue-black

jewel of dark
the iris of winter's longest night

back to issue

Polly Giantonio's poems and work have appeared in various print and online journals including The Comstock Review, The Café Review, and Poets & Writers. She lives in rural Vermont, USA, where she is planning and planting a moss garden among her other perennial beds.