Clade Song 16

Sometimes instructions rise like

Bees drifting over the unsung breath
of flowers

Or dreams rising out of an opening
in a hollow log

into the bright psalm
of sky

And I wonder

What is there to say
hello about?

Except this unfinished
song

Except this omen of silence
like music

Floating between you
and me

On air so cold it’s holy

This piano riff a premonition
on a far dark shore

And the black bark of the moon
the only prayer that matters

Peter Grandbois is the author of sixteen books, including, most recently the poetry collection, Story of a Pilgrim (Tiger Bark Press, 2026). His poems, stories, and essays have appeared in nearly two-hundred magazines. His plays have been nominated for several New York Innovative Theatre Awards and have been performed in numerous cities. He is poetry editor at Boulevard magazineand teaches at Denison University in Ohio. You can find him at www.petergrandbois.com