Poem of the Day: “Four O’Clock in a December Afternoon” by Tricia Knoll, Frequent Contributor and Poet of the Week

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to present “Four O’Clock in a December Afternoon” by Tricia Knoll, a Songs of Eretz Frequent Contributor and this week’s Poet of the Week.  A biography of the poet may be found in the “About Our Editor & Frequent Contributors” section.

Four O’Clock in a December Afternoon

Tricia Knoll

This is not about the propriety of tea cakes

and petit fours with raspberry jam.

Nor about prep time for powdering geisha’s cheeks

with Peruvian flowers for a far-flung night. 

Or when the laundry is assuredly dry

on a frozen wind-cracking line.

The day is sliding down,

a pivot point revolving into night.

This is the hour my dry fingers pick, pick

at strings knotted shut on my red velvet pouch.

I pluck and stretch the mouth open,

to pull out eight icy cat-eye marbles

to either defrost or somersault gently

into remaining light.

Poet’s Notes:  This started as perhaps an ode to the Four O’Clock flower, Mirabilis jalapa (pictured). Geishas use a portion of the flower as a white foundation make up. I was working on a collection of poetry about aging and time, a manuscript called Gathering Marbles that is trying to find a publisher. I often slow down to think of evening, the next roll in the game.