new from above/ground press: DAWN’S FOOL, by Kyla Houbolt

DAWN’S FOOL
Kyla Houbolt
$5
 

Dawn’s Fool

In the dawn window
above the night candle
I lift a curtain
to see silhouettes'
slow shift to color
and transparent utility.

Soon day reveals
its sacred flaws
but now sleep's
fugitive magic gentles
what remains shadowed

and there is the dove
who science knows
as a most foolish bird,
gilded now
with a moment's blush
of her ancient roles:
peace bringer, signal
of God's mercy.

I watch her trying
once again to build
a nest where a nest
won't hold
the way she does each year
exactly as I do here.

She will lay
her eggs and some
will hatch to become
more foolish birds
bringing the message of hope
deferred and peace
yet to come.

published in Ottawa by above/ground press
April 2024
a/g subscribers receive a complimentary copy

cover photo: David Fedor-Cunningham

Kyla Houbolt writes poems and occasional reviews, and takes care of two goats. https://kylahoubolt.us/

Dawn’s Fool was originally published by Ice Floe Press, in 2020.

This is Houbolt’s second above/ground press title, after But Then I Thought (2023).

To order, send cheques (add $1 for postage; in US, add $2; outside North America, add $5) to: rob mclennan, 2423 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa ON K1H 7M9. E-transfer or PayPal at rob_mclennan (at) hotmail.com or the PayPal button at www.robmclennan.blogspot.com