Two Poems by Marianne Brems

 

           Curtain of Darkness

In Fall as a curtain of darkness 

slips down a little further each day,

as though the year is folding up its tent,

a season of greens and yellows and reds, 

born of daylight and warm sun, 

turns its lights out bit by bit 

for a long sleep we don’t think of 

as part of a regenerative journey.

Like a winning athlete, 

it’s the flash, the pizzazz 

of brilliant performance that we applaud, 

not the hours of training and rest.

As Fall invades,

the dinner under artificial light 

supplants one with sizzling barbeque

amongst the pulsing rhythm of crickets,

two equal parts in a celestial circuit.

As darkness steals the light we savor, 

still, a beginning sleeps there.

           

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Like a wolf in sheep’s clothing,

doubt obstructs wherever it can.

It sits down beside us 

sipping a cup of tea

ready to chat between hungry teeth 

disguised beneath a night-cap. 

But we have only so much time,

so much enzyme, to peck our way out

into open air.

One sideways glance at the sheep 

in the next chair,

one spoken word, 

or one nod of recognition,

and the air seeps out of the room.

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Marianne Brems is the author of three poetry chapbooks from Finishing Line Press: Sliver of Change (2020), Unsung Offerings (2021), and In Its Own Time (forthcoming in 2023). Her poems have also appeared in numerous literary journals. She lives and cycles in Northern California, and can be found on www.mariannebrems.com.