Carrie Magness Radna | Two Poems

Heart of Gold 

I saw you in the light,
gold-glittering skin & hair;
I stood steady in the night,
starstruck & kind with care —

But I’m too scared to speak;
my tongue lies dead in your world,
but in my solitude,
my mouth never stops running.

& my heart starts to dance
when streets turn to gold,
when I see you again & again.

I go into the world,
carrying all my hopes with me,
searching for a heart of gold
to share my life with —

& will you be the one to hold
when the years grow cold?

Will these golden dreams
be minted, or will they
simply blow away
during our first shared words?

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Golden

 
I came like there was no tomorrow last night
My mind was fixed on yellow leaves falling
Outside in the New York streets, fan-like
I didn’t recall the type of trees, but they grew
Into a forest of golden leaves

Then my skin grew golden and the stripes worn raw
Grunting and growling like a newlywed tiger
My mate grinned and said I was letting go of inhibitions
He was the catalyst, not the tiger but the hunger
His sweat mixed with my own

Suddenly all the world was golden tipped
The night was hot and our eyes glowed like candles
He called me his lioness — we both do the work
Loving and living … intertwined love knots
We made with our fingers and our hair

We slept for the thousand years after
The stupid light conversation as the trees disappeared
The golden leaves blew away and my hunger dissipated
Now flesh is milky again and sounds are quiet

And we are happy and warm and tired.

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Carrie Magness Radna is an audiovisual cataloger at New York Public Library, a choral singer and a poet who loves traveling. Her poems have previously appeared in The Oracular Tree, Mediterranean Poetry, Muddy River Poetry Review, Poetry Super Highway, Walt’s Corner, Polarity eMagazine, The Poetic Bond and First Literary Review-East. Her latest poetry collection, Hurricanes never apologize (Luchador Press), was published in December 2019. In the blue hour (Nirala Publications) is expected to be released early 2021. Born in Norman, Oklahoma, Carrie lives with her husband in Manhattan.