Love Songs (section III)

We might have coupled
In the bed-ridden monopoly of a moment
Or broken flesh with one another
At the profane communion table
Where wine is spilled on promiscuous lips

We might have given birth to a butterfly
With the daily news
Printed in blood on its wings.

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on December 5, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.