‘Too Late, You Are Cradled’ by Jessie Raymundo

Too Late, You Are Cradled

Too late, you are cradled
in the silent prayer of the night sky’s
mouth, cold, supple & pale,
 
unprepared for the healing.
Even now, you stay in
the scent of silence. Even
 
now, you move in the see-
through suit of remembering. You let moonlight
wash over you. Your body’s ocean reveals
 
a map of memories. Do you see
its islands darken? I kiss
your temple, opening you up,
 
light you can’t feel showering your face.

Jessie Raymundo is a poet and educator from the Philippines. In 2024, he was awarded a Brooklyn Poets Fellowship. His poems have appeared in TAB: The Journal of Poetry and Poetics, Failbetter, South Dakota Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Singapore Unbound’s SUSPECT, and elsewhere.