Poem: Sravana

for Sylvia

Let the coffee pot and the crows,
let the car horns and the upstairs neighbors,
let the blow dryer and the bombs
going off in your brain, let the meditation bell
or the telephone be what wakes you up.
Sweetheart, you do not need to be
more than you are.
Let the cadence of the morning walk
be leaves, breath, and boots.
It is ok to feel small. Even when sugar
dissolves, she leaves her mark
As you stir this tiny world,
bless the beauty of waking,
and this moment, this cup of yours
with its ear shaped handle,
how its question fits in your curled fingers.

Carly Sachs is the recipient of the 2012 Charlotte Newberger Poetry Prize. “The Steam Sequence” is her first collection of poetry.