“Before the Day:” by Andrea Scarpino

Before the Day :

sunrise over the lake,
seagull clatter, crow,

sound of glasses stacked,
restacked, metal slid

into place. Cacophony
of blossoming :

forsythia, lilac, cherry’s
pink-tipped sway.

How long has the body
refused sleep? Damp hand

of the sheet startling.

                             Hours
                             months
                             years?

Time moves slowly.

Before the day
body feels its way

into shape :        almost risen
body                    almost in pain.

Andrea Scarpino is the author of the poetry collection Once, Then (Red Hen Press, 2014) and the chapbook, The Grove Behind (Finishing Line Press). She received an MFA in Creative Writing from Ohio State University and has published in numerous journals including The Cincinnati Review, Los Angeles Review, and Prairie Schooner.