Samuel Dickerson
Elegy for Affection
Pale blue light, sharp
scythe moon, here
is the reaper, here is what is left
after the unraveling, this take
season and this field razed by cold,
yellowed by the gentle hand
of someone’s abandon. There is
your skin, in the wither and the ghosts
of grain as it hardens in the cold,
and there are your eyes, the flickers
of headlights in this quiet two-lane.
You are here to feel something
but it will not be whole. Like this faded
gold field waiting for snow, like the constellation
crafting the scythe’s handle.
Samuel Dickerson is a Best of the Net Award Nominee and has poems forthcoming or published in The Shore Poetry and swamp pink. He currently studies at Salisbury University where he works for the Nationally Competitive Fellowships Office, is an assistant editor for his school’s literary magazine, The Scarab, and is a poetry editor for 149 Review. He grew up in Chesapeake City, MD.