Beyond Metaphor

for a friend

“Close-up view of the California poppy,” George E. Stone, 1925

Beyond Metaphor
           for Amy


Some nights require closure
and other nights are just closed
like the California poppy closes 
to survive the chill. 
The California poppies 
inked into your arm
reflect how you stand
in a world seized
by refusal of meaning. 
Now morning draws the flower 
out of itself—vivid, new. 
Notice in first light 
the entire field, 
in full profusion and color, is you.