Night Hike - Shae Krispinsky

For Frank Stanford

Night of crisp hay, full moon,

warm wind, hiking around

the reservoir. We didn’t yet know

what sacred meant, but I would learn.

I was always praying to

something, it was easy, I am a mistress

of magical thinking.

If I hold my breath.

If I pick seventeen flowers.

If I leave a letter beneath the bed

in an envelope I folded from magazine pages.

I know you are holy, you smell

like hay and wind.

I will pray to you,

Alpha and Omega,

autumnal bonfire.

Let me wear you

like leather. I was always

praying for something,

an eternal golden hour where

everything glinted. Let me

see your hands, let me

kiss them like leather. I’ll hang

your coat and hat on the moon.

---

Shae Krispinsky lives in Tampa, FL, where she fronts the band, Navin Avenue, whose sound she describes as Southern Gothic 70s-arena indie rock with a pop Americana twist. Her fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in Connotation Press, Thought Catalog, The Dillydoun Review, Vending Machine Press, Sybil Journal and more. She is currently working on her band's second album and a novel.