One taking off her clothes

And another singing about it. 
There's a competition

Of violets, white and yellow
(Singing to close

The day about them).
How one hobbles oneself

For stillness.  And still,
with what isn't there

For support.  Several yellow
Tulips and several red tulips

(One taking off one's clothes).

How one
Stills oneself, Spring

And a sudden
Ochre and amaranth,

The window and lounge.
One singing.  (The green.)The green looking
                                                            
So much closer than the trees. 

John Gallaher has published a book of poetry, Gentlemen in Turbans, Ladies in Cauls (2001), and has poems in Boston Review, FIELD, Ploughshares, and Colorado Review, among others. He answers to the name Hey You.  He is the editor of the Laurel Review.

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