Antiphonal, by Sharon Phillips

Waldhexen, by Paul Klee (Switzerland). 1938.

Antiphonal

murmur brightness
                        murmur dark

whisper embers
                        ash and smoke

chant the tree
                       the wood and root

sing the flame
                      its amber bloom

breathe the scent
                     of loam and leaf

lick the sweat
                     of thigh and breast

dance the night
                     its crimson beat

summon shadows
                     from the heart

Sharon Phillips

Sharon is a retired college principal, who lives on the Isle of Portland, England. She spends her time cooking, reading and writing poems, some of which have been published or are forthcoming in Ink Sweat and Tears, Atrium, The High Window and previously in The Ekphrastic Review, among others.