by Marissa Bell Toffoli
Tonight I can be this candid.
The Evening Star unfastens the dark.
The way ahead blooms wide.
We talk and talk, let ideas linger
and spread as steam. Our fingers unlace
qualms with ease. We slip into the weekend
like it’s a hot bath. Release our questions
to the night air. Venus, guardian
of a most used and misunderstood ruby,
after you witness our fumbling how do you let go
with the dawn? Knowing how too bright
a light quashes confidence and faith,
shows the ordinary to be just what it is.
We hold on to what we have with our teeth.
Forget what we learned in our sleep.
Morning Star, not even the cat
wakes to bid you goodbye.