Summer Rain in Lesbos
worked from Sappho fr. 30
midyear clouds gather
dense
night [
thick & heavy
(I can hold them in my hand)
gray sky slips to sweat
it curls into her humidity
salt sea-green to island mist
summer—she turns it to breath
earth carpet purple & clovered green
I sit with violets in my lap
together we wait
pansies to spring up
honeyed
girls
all night long
might sing nightingale melos
or bird with piercing voice
wake! hot rain between my breasts
summer—she laps it up
wet on tongue & clean again
pink buds buried in silk
sky tint purple with white sparks
I sit with violets in my lap
together
shall we sleep?
Maddie Portune (she/her) is a bi poet living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her partner, daughter, and their cats, Tim and Tony. She’s currently a PhD candidate in English Literature at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she also earned her MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry). She received her MA in English Literature from Indiana University and her BSB in Marketing and International Studies from Indiana University (Indianapolis). Her work has been published or is forthcoming in genesis, Indiana’s Best Emerging Poets, Reverie, and Litbreak. Her debut chapbook Anatomy of a Rose is available now through Bottlecap Press. When she’s not writing or reading in her local coffee shop, Maddie can be found hiking in national parks with her family. Connect with her on Instagram.