Arctic Delight, we called that lofty, drafty blue cloud
of a bedroom. And took turns warming it—
one poem per night, Rumi, always Rumi.
Candle shadows licking the walls, we read with pet
names and piano fingers, praying Persian heat
would thaw that lozenge of our marriage bed.
Mediterranean wine in new vessels, etc.
And when verse failed us, we used a blow dryer.
Lance Larsen teaches at Brigham Young University, where he serves as poetry editor of Literature and Belief. His third collection of poems is due out this year from University of Tampa Press. Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Raritan, The Gettysburg Review, AGNI, Orion, The Iowa Review, FIELD, Brevity, The Georgia Review, and elsewhere. He has received a number of awards, including a Pushcart Prize and an NEA fellowship in poetry. (updated 10/2008)