Her father’s family wants everything lush the first time.
An eagle’s feathers soft as rainfall, coins pouring thick as magnolia blossom,
excess slicing from the belly to the shaking of the world.
There is a luxury in being asked twice.
The sugar cubes ignored beside the porcelain cup
made from bone ashes in a process she is not asked to admire,
the footfalls from the shape she cannot see, the hand
that does not touch her hand.
What sky-breaking abandon, only to say yes
to a single seed.
Ursula Whitcher’s languages include French, Latin, classical Greek, algebraic geometry, and python. You can find Ursula’s poetry and fiction in places such as Asimov’s Science Fiction, Polu Texni, The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast, or Goblin Fruit, or by following the links at yarntheory.net. Look for @superyarn on Twitter or @yarntheory@wandering.shop on Mastodon for smaller tastes of words.
