Peonies Submerged In Water Poem by Eli Spivakovsky

My green and white mares
have bracelets with bells around their ankles
so when they gallop it sounds like
coins being tossed into a treasure house
I played the circle game with them
I fed them apples and a little sugar
I set them loose to the sea
I gave up their reins in my hand
and they came back for me
I was planning on giving up my oxygen
to the highest wave I could find
I'm tired of living
living in towns
that don't understand peonies submerged in water
that don't understand a nova full of snow
that don't understand a closely domed sky

You saved me
You explained the real meaning of division in math
So part of me is still in the sea
part of me is feeding them apples
part of me is incomprehensible
and part of me awaits you

I thought if I went into the Ocean
and wet my wedding dress in it,
that would annul our marriage

'So now you know how to divide a heart', you say,
'The chambers led me back to you'
'How did you find me? '
'I followed you from the cherry orchard'
'and before then? '
'from the Silk Road'
'You're a stalker'
'You're my wife'
'True, but I need to know
do you understand cloth made of shot-silk?
do you understand a cherubic chord?
do you understand a shivering forest from a breezy thicket? '

'I'll tell you something I do know

'There are caves of giant crystals
A bunch of scientists went to explore it
You have to wear a pressure suit
and conserve your energy
One of the explorers was a woman
She was so overwhelmed, she started crying
She was using up her fluids
And the more that she was over-taken
by the caves, the more she wept
And I don't know if they left her there
or tried to take her with them,
she could have been too heavy
she'd lost a lot by weeping
It was as if she was crying herself to death'

'Why are you telling me this? ' I demand

'because if it had been up to me, and it was you crying,
I would have taken you with me'

'What if I was too heavy? '

'Then we'd both be stuck'

'I would have told you to go'

'You already have, now I'm back'

the white mares aren't green anymore
and back in their stables,
the cherries are plump, fresh and fleshy
the closely domed sky show novas full of snow
and you bring me wet peonies
and memories:

'I kissed you the number of the length of my train, 'I said
Do you remember?
'wrap me up, turn me into a banner' I said
'You can be my flag, is that good? ' you asked
'Yes' I said and you saluted me

'Do you know how much sparkles cost? ' I continued
'That's easy - pay with Saffron' you said
'Do you know graphite and diamond are only
1 electron away from each other? '
'Diamonds are like resplendent pencils then' you observe
'Did you know geckos lose their tails,
but never their heads'
'Smart geckos' you remarked
'Indeed.'

'I want to hush you now', you say
'they released a dule of doves
at our primary school once for peace
And I realised, much later, they were probably related
brothers and sisters
or that they would form new bonds
because they'd been captured together
so either way, it was a family or the makings of one.'

'You would have taken me with you? '
'Yes, and I might have given you a crystal ring'
'I prefer the sparkling pencil ones'
'So do I, so do I'