I pick ripe oranges – by M.S. Rooney

I pick ripe oranges,

fill the copper bowl
with their bright sweetness,
pluck honeysuckle blooms
to place beside them –
surely this plenty, this fragrance
will call you?

The arms of the clock are missing,
and I do not know how long it is
before you enter,
streaming the curtains back
in creamy folds,
bending the candle flames deeper
into the room.

M.S. Rooney lives in Sonoma, California with poet Dan Noreen. Her work appears in journals including Illuminations, Leaping Clear, The Halcyone and The OffBeat, and anthologies, including American Society: What Poets See (FutureCycle Press), and A Walk with Nature: Poetic Encounters that Nourish the Soul (University Professors Press). Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Art: "Secret Treasure" by Sandy Coomer - 6X6, acrylic pour on Claybord
Statement: The copper bowl spoke to me as well as the candle flames bending into the room. This abstract piece works in a near literal way for this poem.