Beyond the Edge
Her contrasts skim and rustle
quite unprepared for this peculiarity.
Gazing past a startle of phrasing
the world has things to be saddened by.
As a death scream
she has exploded them from her body
gusting among reeds, teeming full,
every word breathes rain, a black swan flows.
Is it over?
Have we come so far—
speak the minders of a benediction,
her risen soul.
Heroic deeds are now pointless,
no smile adorns her golden-age fugue.
The woman is more than perfected—
she is the slightest hairline perfection.
Richard King Perkins II is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He has a wife, Vickie and a daughter, Sage. His work has appeared in hundreds of publications including Prime Mincer,Sheepshead Review, Sierra Nevada Review, The William and Mary Review, TwoThirds North, and The Red Cedar Review. He has poems forthcoming in Bluestem, Poetry Salzburg Review, and December Magazine.
