The wind blows a sour music.
I awaken to a dawn distant but stretching pale fingers
to nudge night.

I wait as you sleep with desire
that excludes me. I feel clandestine in a room
that knows me no more. Its walls fix me
blankly, shells cracking under the pressure
of morning.

Janet Butler relocated to the Bay Area in 2005 after many years in central Italy.  She lives in Alameda with Fulmi, a lovely Spaniel mix she rescued in Italy and brought back with her.  Some recent publications are The North Chicago Review,  Assisi, The 13th Warrior, and The Tipton Poetry Journal.  A poetry collection, “Searching for Eden”, is forthcoming this November, 2011, from Finishing Line Press.