New Wardrobe

1
She orders impossible-to-make gowns —
and they appear. With opal-eyed fish, she swims
in lakes on the moon; with salamanders,
dives through sun-fire; flutters in a cloud of
Silver-Wings around unseen stars…
Her small share of heaven, in a nutshell.
2
Bloody scraps of pelt — snow, sallow gold,
pearl and ebony, rust — are patchworked into
a shaman's cloak: a sealed world to fend off harm,
a shroud to cradle her inside earth's cold.
Forest martin, wolf and squirrel, bear,
fox and otter, teach her when to be swift
or still, lend that ancient trick of survival —
patience… From her miniature cull,
trace elements of animal soul.