"Spanish Wine in early Summer", from Parabola Dreams, Alan Britt&Silvia Scheibli

This Spanish wine
has all the dryness
of rattlesnake skin
shed between the forked thoughts
of an Arizona moon.

Moon's left elboe
tinged with bruises.

If this wine
truly is snake,
then its warm scales
are deep kisses
pressed by a complete stranger
against the lips of last night's dream.

This wine wears a loose-fitting robe
while she writes
of loneliness
on pages made from parchment
and pearls
in her adolescent diary.


Thanks for the books, Alan and Silvia.