Two Poems

by Julie Puckett

The Face of Night

Under the pierced veil of night

the east wind gathers

as rushes scurry home

to their chiding mothers.

Here,

our voices full of moon and

softer

than cricketsong,

we guess at constellations

next to the bones of

the old dock.

Promise you’ll come back

one day

with your own

sprawling babies,

to search the face of the clouds,

your arms like branches

holding

up the sky.

Where The Morning Blooms The Jasmine

In spring

we set out to examine

the young orange tree,

your sunburned hand

on my neck as I cry

about the babies,

and shake my head at the

damn shame of it.

The jasmine has

begun to

bloom

ahead of any schedule

I might keep—

even now,

a bud is opening.

BIO: ulie Puckett is a poet, illustrator, and designer who tends to the beauty found in the realm of ordinary things. She is a mother of two young children, who often inspire the themes in her work. She and her family live in Charleston, South Carolina. Her poetry has appeared in Andorhina Press, Be About It, and Deep South Magazine.