At first light she will map
the contours of his leg

faintly, tiny hairs rising under her touch
in a reversed domino effect,

one after another standing
as her hand’s shadow passes,

as a bird steers its dark likeness
above a damp and rippling field

courting the moment of descent.

Rebecca Aronson has poems recently in MARY, The Paris-American, Quarterly West, and others. Her first book, Creature, Creature, was published in 2007. She lives in New Mexico, where she facilitates a community writers group, coordinates a visiting writers series, and teaches writing.