Alexandra Saputo

My balcony is drenched in light. 

Gold and amber and rose 

Seeps into the sky. 

Morning’s easy air tastes of heaven. 
 

Its incense wanders over 

Untamed earth 

Through sun kissed meadows 

Of honeycomb, emerald, 

and jasper. 

 

I find myself among the wildflowers 

and their nepenthean perfume. 

Could life be so sweet? 

 

I gather gaiety in bushels, 

My basket blooming with 

Chrysanthemums and primrose in 

Xanthic hues, 

Wine dark carnations and mourning brides 

 

Composing bouquets of botanical wildings 

From the lavender and anemones, the butterfly 

Weeds abandoned to Nature — 

Lost within her resplendent chaos. 

 

I take my darlings home. 

They bring their sunshine with them. 

 

The scent of nectar 

Spills into the kitchen from glass mason jars 

Perched upon the windowsill 

As I watch the alchemy of life unfold: 

 

Pale white roots emerging from green stems, 

The hungry, yearning fibers stretching 

To the edge of their foreign ecosystem. 

 

I tuck them in hand painted pots 

Packed with Mahogany earth 

And place them on the balcony. 

They flourish in the elixir of light and warmth, 

and my spirit grows bright. 

 

Perhaps I will start a garden. 

 

But a thief swept through the darkness 

and stripped summer from the air. 

A bitter chill seeped into the bones of the evening, 

My Happiness choked by dawn. 

 

How foolish I was 

to think 

I could be loved.