January 2003  

Revelation   © by   Bonnie Michael
 

I sleep
in my mother's mahogany bed
between blue sheets
that have long lost her scent
though the energy remains.

In the morning
I glimpse my image
in the curve of the great mirror
see it slip into hers
wavering between the worlds.

I sense
her enigmatic smile
as I move about my room
shifting my gaze inward
to the time

when this furniture
is hers, these pictures
on her walls, this lamp
by her bed
made up with blue sheets.

And it is here, at night
lying in the dark hull of her bed
that I begin to know her.

Previously published in the North Carolina Poetry Society's
Award-Winning Poems 2002. Used with the poet's permission.
NOTICE: The poem on this page is copyright © by the poet.