“For I have need of many orisons
To move the heavens to smile upon my state . . .”
Juliet, Act IV, Scene 3, from Romeo and Juliet,
William Shakespeare

May I find ways
of using words in such a manner
that might begin to portrayhow I am filled by the depths
of what I believe we share:
space, silence, timelessness.

Three of the heavier weights
in the universe. And here I am
burning for you with such intensity,

there is a glow that begins to radiate
within me. May what we share be
some of the most nurturing

characteristics of the soul that lighten,
heal, and re-energize: the opening
heart, forgiveness, the receiving heart.

Wally Swist’s books include Huang Po and the Dimensions of Love (Southern Illinois University Press, 2012), selected by Yusef Komunyakaa as co-winner in the 2011 Crab Orchard Series Open Poetry Contest, and A Bird Who Seems to Know Me: Poems Regarding Birds & Nature (Ex Ophidia Press, 2019), the winner of the 2018 Ex Ophidia Press Poetry Prize. His recent poems appeared in Commonweal, Rattle, and Transference: A Literary Journal Featuring the Art & Process of Translation. His recent books include The Bees of the Invisible (2019), Evanescence: Selected Poems (2020), and Awakening & Visitation (2021), all with Shanti Arts

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