Primer for an Anxious Girl

If winter were an axiom,
I would spell it for her -
every daughter should study
the abrupt freeze

lest she be caught abroad
in it. If night were an
equation, we would solve
it by candlelight - feathers

plus an ache in the throat.
She worries these rules
till they are threadbare
and cannot keep her warm.

I explain and explain
insomnia. Wish I could
unlatch the silk lid
of her head, reach precisely

in, rearrange the corridors
of sleep. That way, my love.
Past the purple masses
of snow, round the corner

where gale becomes zephyr.
A waiting cradle rocks
beneath the firmamental lilac.
Disembodied - thus.

~from Heathen by Lesley Wheeler
And yes, everyone should buy this lovely book of poems.