Sappho in Her Study

The files in the filing cabinet
Are all talking at once.
Mumble jumble, say the files
In the filing cabinet.

The desk, discreet,
Discloses nothing.

Rough drafts live 
A roustabout life, 
Tumbling from shelves,

While books, published 
and smugly replete, 
No longer feel the need 
To compete.

Stationery sprawls,
Casual as sunbathers.

In the locked drawer,
Love letters lie.

From Rising Venus by Kelly Cherry. Copyright © 2002 by Kelly Cherry. Reproduced with permission of Louisiana State University Press. All rights reserved.