Bio
Rose Mary Boehm is a German-born British national living and writing in Lima, Peru, and author of two novels as well as seven poetry collections. Her poetry has been published widely in mostly US poetry reviews (online and print). She was twice nominated for a Pushcart. Her latest: Do Oceans Have Underwater Borders? (Kelsay Books July 2022), Whistling In The Dark (Cyberwit July 2022), and Saudade (December 2022) are available on Amazon. https://www.rose-mary-boehm-poet.com/
Rose Mary Boehm
In Celebration of Solitude
There exists a secret pleasure when night threads
its yarn through the eye of silence, when you drink solitude
as a hummingbird would taste the sugar of its favourite flower,
as when the bee, exhausted, falls asleep in a rose.
Solitude's kindness envelops the bearer
like a down-filled comforter, like invisible hands
stroking your face—as insubstantial
as a dandelion seed resting briefly on your cheek.
You can smell the moss, the mold, the ants, the time of day,
you hear the small voices of the moths
so desperately calling to the light.
Your tongue glories in that last drop of rainwater falling
from the heavy green fingers of a tall pine, and your eyes
penetrate the mists rising from the moorland.
You lie back against the tree, safe in the knowledge
that you are responding to the breathing of the living earth.