Two Poems by Tobi Cogswell

Come lunch with me under the moon,
I can’t sleep. A warm blanket and a
sandwich, a cup of tea and good
conversation, why not?

Let’s record the late night news and
get out of the house, we can slow dance
to the sounds of passing radios.
I’m not one of those women
who needs taking care of - I am free
with my affections and time, let’s
enjoy pretending we are under the sea
with urchins and anemones spelled out
in the darkened trunks of dormant trees.

Let’s put on thick socks, play
hide and secrets in the mossy grass.
So much enchantment
after lifetimes of disenchantment
don’t break the spell.

Let me stop, take a step back here,
appraise the scene and
fully appreciate my partner in crime.
I make up the words to describe the
luckiness of insomnia while flexing
my fingers on the ten-key of happiness.

You say “Whatever”
I say “Who knew?”
Leave the question dangling
in the black vacuum of the night,
and let’s play and touch.
Brush a tear from the edge of my eye,
and with that gesture say thousands
of words - like hummingbirds wings -
frantic and gentle, and full of rhyme
I know I am very lucky.

I’ll be your lady and you’ll be
my knight on this perfect night.

…who hears the voice
in rooms unseen
but cannot bear to
tip the hand
or risk all portent of
misunderstanding.

A constant in otherwise bewilderment
the beneficent sun bestows a quiet heat
of fragile summers.

Sorrowful and
solitary, the one
voice an anchor in
an abundance of drowning.

Tobi Cogswell