Regina Derieva

I Don't Feel At Home Where I Am


I don't feel at home where I am,

or where I spend time; only where,

beyond counting, there's freedom and calm,

that is, waves, that is, space where, when there,

you consist of pure freedom, which, seen,

turns that Gorgon, the crowd, to stone,

to pebbles and sand . . . where life's mean-

ing lies buried, that never let one

come within cannon shot yet.

From cloud-covered wells untold

pour color and light, a fete

of cupids and Ledas in gold.

That is, silk and honey and sheen.

That is, boon and quiver and call.

That is, all that lives to be free,

needing no words at all.

Regina Derieva