leonine

Steel blue Leonine comes crashing at my door
He talks with a mouthful of sound and
Sand falls from his hair when he crosses the room.
It leaves gritty little pools in the corners
That I'll never sweep up
"You can save that for tea, later."
We feast on fingers and ears, he says
He can hear the moon in his sleep
But I know all the moon will say is cheese, cheese, cheese
Look at the deep trunks he uses for legs
Tawney, I see each crevice and lose my balance.

Leonine comes feather-finger with a halo 'round his neck
Tap-tap-tapping at my black bedroom window
"Come outside, the moon is talking to us in the back,
It knows us by name."
Swirl and shiver I can crush the grass between my toes,
And in the sky
It's not the moon talking. It's the coyotes.
They do know our names.

Long and slender Leonine comes dashing in my garden
He's got the sun on a rope and a picnic basket
And his eyes are lit with purple fire that I simply
Can't bear to look at
I'll collect it in a mason jar, and save it for tea, later.
He knows all the mushrooms that are good with poached
Salmon and strawberries
And the autumn sun for dessert.

Hunter Green Leonine I can make him out in the trees all around
His voice rustles and whispers velvet and thorns
I inhale whiskey fumes
"I know you are here. Don't watch me."
Barely I glimpse white marble skin glints
And sparks when it brushes against leaves
Magic I can breathe it in and swallow whole deep gulps of it
Webs and dust in my eyes
I'm crawling in the icy grass, the sounds are muffled and foggy,
With one sweet huff
The muzzle of Leonine appears.

Warm powerful Leonine strides into my meadow
His body like a prarie, his breath as the steam engine:
mist mist
A pulse beat and he has lain at my feet
And in the flicker of my eyelash I am inbetween the paws
Of the Great, Rumbling Leonine