Butter Lamb
Julie Byrne
If the smallest waters do bind to make the sea then I do trust thee
In the wide thaw I’ve seen the stars of night reflect onto the tide
As if to lay across and make unfar all of the body of sea
That is how I did love thee
Butter lamb on Easter and sugar cut from the cane
Where the rabbit and the wolf came to lay on the 16th day full Moon
I told you I was here, and boundlessly
That is how I did love thee
But still people need small things
The feeling of water, of labor and sleep
The freedom to leave
But when I returned you were no longer there to receive me