Suzanne Osborne
Vase
Behold the vase upon its plinth.
A tight carapace
of sang de boeuf reflects
the light, warding off
the gaze.
The narrow neck closely guards
the ample base, admitting
nothing.
Only where the lip flares out
to reveal the naked ivory throat
does it allow that once, perhaps,
there was a pouring in or out.
Suzanne Osborne—after an early career in theater, a stint in academia, and too many years as a legal secretary—now lives in Forest Hills, NY, and writes poetry. Her work has appeared in New Plains Review, Oddville Press, and Indolent Books’ The Second Coming series, among others, and is forthcoming in Southern Poetry Review.
