I Learn the Language of Stars

you sing from memory whispering secrets to the thousand islands at my feet and row to the shipwrecked shores of Ithaca i hear rustling of dry wind smell the damp sun-kissed cattails after last night's storm and see the land my ancestors slaved over barren and fruitless as my womb i call to ghosts where are you? you claim to know winter so you climb Mount Olympus in February and learn to hate frostbites and when stars dance you sympathize their songs but really now what are they saying? seasons change with the moon and i slowly caress your silhouette with clumsy fingers suckling the yellow from aging honeysuckles i wash the nostalgic Aegean Sea spilling blue over a drowning sunset and painting beautiful Asteria with bold breathless hands anxious to touch but the water is cold and i shiver stay a little longer