Ask Any Woman
about her bed and watch her soften
as if thinking of a lover.
Bed is where she teaches herself
to be alone,
where she finally sleeps
on her back in the middle,
legs sprawled, one arm thrown
over her head, fingers
curled lightly, palm up.
Here she practices the nap,
a skill she hopes to perfect;
reads past midnight, spills
Jane Austen, the Times
and the New Yorker
onto the floor; speaks
to herself in dreams.
Washed by sleep, she
casts the covers aside,
sees the subaqueous morning light
sculpt her unmade bed into a folded
landscape of shadows as familiar
to her as the hollows of her body.
Bed is the place where
she comes to the edge
of a quiet pool,
drinks from her own
spring.
Cathie Sandstrom Smith
Cathie Sandstrom Smith is a native Califonian who has lived in Japan, Europe and all over the United States. She now makes her home in Sierra Madre. Her poems are included in Matchbook, published by Red Wind Books.