Cross of Mine, by Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

Laburnum, by Hans Hofmann (USA, b. Germany). 1954.

Cross of Mine

It is in chaos that I thrive,
in the spirals and drips

of my thoughts made manifest, splashed 
frantically in your gaze,

in the the push-pull affair between 
colours warm and cool. 

Could you exist here, too, 
not just as a spectator in your 

familiar pose: arms akimbo, legs 
planted flush against earth,

but as a lover, a dancer, 
a gunshot, a virus in my veins?

Will you be the one to finally hoist 
up my red-soaked cross,

the one I have carried west to east, 
south to north,

the one I mend and cradle daily 
while you merrily dream?

Or will you walk away
and give back 

the spilled blue of my essence that 
reached for your pulse in song?​

Tiffany Shaw-Diaz

Tiffany Shaw-Diaz is an award-winning poet and visual artist based in Centerville, Ohio. She can be reached through www.tiffanyshawdiaz.com.