A Bird in Hand

A Bird in Hand

On a cloudless summer day

she flew into my life

and rested her head in my hand

with the weight of a butterfly.

She spoke of love in another life

and one to come.

Her beauty was carved from ice

composed in the kitchen

danced like a gypsy to flames on a cave wall

drank like a longshoreman on a Friday night

loved like a mermaid swallowing a sailor

kissed like a thousand kisses deep

laughed like a cascading waterfall

shed real tears at the death of Madame Butterfly.

And for a moment of forever, she flew from my hand.