Tapestry

feathers in a picture frame
and in her braided hair
wan woven cloudlets
chill of a sidewise glance
shivers in sunlit air

tapestry under her arm
Bohemian briefcase
slowing her uphill stride
the moon’s crater-irises
red veil of heavy traffic
vilified road-ragers
blanketing all sight

sandals like a Roman God
evading pavement cracks
moon-beamed mountain range
Tiger-lily lookalike
with feathered hair on horseback
riding through snow
woven purple night

bus-stop steals her silhouette
mass of selfsame dark
frame at her side refracts a glint
in my eyes new colours spark
no more clouds or mountains
horse lost in the dazzling daub

feathers and irises of her own
remind me what is real
choking on exhaust smoke
eyes ice-cream punnet blue
fingernails like pearls

but give me the tapestry again
there I am more at home
another sidewise glance
from her on the snowy plane
bus gone, and I alone