Sara Dailey

Waking

The sound will call you—that undeniable
murmur of heart, the beat—mouth
open in an O, like a cloud rising.
You will rise, a burdened angel.

Why do they call it waking
and not becoming?
Almost beautifully, the fist opens,
the fingers stretch and release.

The day will beckon like wind—
softly, then rustling with impatience,
and you a leaf, nodding in response.

Sara Dailey has an M.A. in English and is currently working on an M.F.A at Hamline University. Over the years she has been a bookstore supervisor, publishing company intern and writing tutor. She currently works in a university library teaching first year writing and a critical thinking skills course for two universities. Her poems have appeared in Whiskey Island Magazine, The Bitter Oleander, Cimarron Review, Diner, Ascent, Summit Avenue Review, The Red Wheelbarrow, and California Quarterly. She won Shadow Poetry's 11th annual chapbook competition for her work, “The Science of Want," and was a 2007 Loft Mentor Series finalist.