Night Journey

by Tamara Madison


Into the calm-flowing river
Morpheus dips his oar

Each dip makes a ring
that circles in moonlight
behind us

Across the water's quiet face
the belly of sleep's canoe
draws a vanishing seam

My dreams unspool
along the shadowed shore


* * * * *

"Night Journey" was first published in Cholla Needles and is part of Tamara Madison's new book, Morpheus Dips His Oar.

Tamara Madison is the author of three full-length poetry collections, Wild Domestic and Moraine (Pearl Editions), and two chapbooks, The Belly Remembers (Pearl Editions) and Along the Fault Line (Picture Show Press). A swimmer and a dog lover, she is a native of the California desert, but she has lived and traveled in many places. She is recently retired from teaching English and French in a high school in Los Angeles. Her new collection of poems, Morpheus Dips His Oar, is just out from Sheila-Na-Gig Press. Read more about her at tamaramadisonpoetry.com.