—with thanks to Olga Broumas for sharing the Greek poet Elytis

 

Look up, the sun

is exactly where you left it

and will not move

until you call it

in the language of your heart.

 

Silence is also safe

for we will carry you,

but why rely on our embrace

when you can fly?

 

Men have waited lifetimes

to see a flower this close.

 

Many have gone blind.

 

© Nicole Melanson

* This poem first appeared in The Mississippi Review, where it was a runner-up for The Mississippi Review Prize for Poetry, selected by Angela Ball