You are an alchemist my love like October on fire
You magic your movements and touch with a feather frost
In your fingers the trace of my spine
Till I quiver like an aspen turned to a tremble gold.
You are an alchemist my love like October on fire
You lace your undress as slowly as tamarack’s subtle surprise
The scent of the forest is all you are wearing
And my hands love to linger in the auburn allure of your hair.
You are an alchemist my love like October on fire
You star scatter the sky after sunset’s flush
And as you await the again of dawn
You whisper me a secret of the alchemist’s art
October is on fire with spring
And April is all alchemy all over.
Rae Crossman
Published in The New Quarterly, Spring 1997