Lullaby
By Stephen Mead
Each evening mist curls peacefully
into the lips of this shell,
anoints edges raw from storm,
nestles to take on hue
& begins a slumbering purr.
Under water
whorls as gas burner's blue flames
slowly pulse. Can elegance,
lustres evanescent, reflect slopes,
the fissures pearlescent interiors
enclose?
By morning the mist is totally burnt off,
the whisper of a cocktail party barely recalled.
Then the shell is left standing
still turned in on itself,
a hand clasping surf.
Stephen Mead is a resident artist/curator for The Chroma Museum, artistic renderings of LGBTQI historical figures, organizations and allies predominantly before Stonewall, The Chroma Museum. Stephen Mead is a retiree who, throughout all his pretty non-glamorous jobs still found time for writing poetry/essays and creating art.