Trimming Nails

The build-up is agonizing;
Weeks of growing woes—
The fear of dragons,
Of related crises (nose
And ears, hair and toes:
The psyche quails
At the minutes left
To us for nails).

But finally the crux
Is reached, the last
Corner turned, the pitons
Placed; the cliff is past,
And all the stars aligned:
This moment will be ours,
Our fingers intertwined,
Our minds attuned to just
The detail of this time.

Edges clipped and angles
Cropped; no scissors miss,
Fingers smoothed and bangled—
Such an easy process, this,
Like the summer’s hard-won song,
Or a new day’s dawning bliss:
Impossible that it took so long
To put the planets in their spin,
And focus worlds on our skin.

October 5th, 2019
Belgravia