Renaissance

(For K.M.M.)

Who am I to read the lines in your face

as if they were Whitman?

The song of yourself in

crystal flutes of prosecco:

sparkling,

full-bodied.

Electric.

When it was warm

Tonight

it rained for the first time in months

and looking at the salmon sunset

I remembered how you used to say 

I brought the rain

every time I came

how you’d send me pictures

of flowers that grew 

where I’d been

how you’d laugh

and blame me for springtime

I guess, in your way,

you were telling me I was beautiful.

Rae Rozman is a poet and educator in Texas. Her poetry often explores themes of queer love (romantic and platonic), loss, and education and has been published in several literary magazines and anthologies. She can be found on Instagram @mistress_of_mnemosyne sharing poems, book reviews, and entirely too many pictures of her rescue bunnies.